Wish You Were Here
by Scotland Evander
Summary: Tony Stark was over with people messing with his stuff. Why did everyone always have to blow up his house, mess with his people, and steal his ideas? Didn't they know he was Tony Stark? Wait. They did. And that's why they kept going after his stuff. (Rewrite of Land of Confusion, #3 in Various States series)


**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters. Nor do I own the plot of ****_Iron Man 3_****. This is tragic, but it was written by Drew Pearce and Shane Black. "Wish You Were Here" by Incubus (that's who Wiki claims wrote the version I'm using). And as always, if you know it, I do not own it.**

* * *

_A/N: This is a rewrite of the story _Land of Confusion, _the third installment of _Various States_. If you've read that story, I'm sorry. _Land of Confusion _has always annoyed me. I shouldn't have even posted it without rewriting it, as there were quite a few things that bothered me, but I went ahead and posted it because, well, it was done and I was excited to post the next installment. It's been a year (roughly) since I originally posted it and it is high time I replace it with something else. Especially since I want to use the title for the _Winter Solider _story I've yet to write. _

_If you've already suffered through _Land of Confusion: _the basic plot is the same and it is not required to read again to understand future stories in the _Various States_ series._

* * *

**_The Heart of It All_**

* * *

_During the struggle they will pull us down / But, please, please let's use this chance to turn thing around_

_-Muse, "Invincible"_

* * *

Tony Stark was annoyed.

And not because his favorite house had been reduced to a pile of rubble roughly six months ago. Nope. That wasn't why he was currently annoyed. That was only a mild nuisance at the present. Tony was currently annoyed due to the woman in front of him.

"The readings are off the charts! I did scans of GQ before we sent him off to Fairy Land and now you two are a matching set! You've got the same levels of that unknown energy! You just have to tap it!"

Jess Witton, the aspiring witch herself, glared at him. "I don't know how."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't. Each time I do something it's totally on accident!"

Tony snorted. "Sure. I think you're just not trying."

"I've been trying for six months and all I can do is make some little sparks dance across my fingers."

"Look, Quadra Blu," Tony started, folding his arms across his chest.

"I do not have blue skin."

"No, you've got blue hair. Google it," Tony sassed. "Look, Quadra Blu, we've got to try something here."

"Why? You don't understand the magic. You just said it was unknown energy."

"Yeah, we've been trying for the last three months to get you to produce something enough to read with this thing."

"Why?"

"Because, when you actual make magic, it reads differently then when you're just hanging out. I have readings from both GQ and Reindeer Games when they did magic and when they're just standing around looking pretty and normal. Or, well, not normal. I don't think Lokes qualifies as normal, good or bad."

"Nope. No matter where Loki is, whether he's fictional or real, he's never normal," Jess agreed.

Tony fiddled with some scrap metal, glancing at Jess as she twirled a strand of blue hair around her finger. He ought to have known this wasn't going to be easy. Nothing concerning Jessica Witton was cut and dry. The day she shown up on their planet, she brought two vastly different Lokies with her (who were actually one whole Loki, spilt apart for murky reasons), got brainwashed by the more insane half, and later impersonated Tony and stole one of his new sports cars (which totally was not good, but he forgave her. She was brainwashed).

"True dat, true dat," Tony absently agreed, tossing the scrap metal over his shoulder.

"Tony, I'm sorry. I know you're frustrated with me, but I don't even know why I still have magic. As Loki said, I shouldn't have it. You can't transfer magic," Jess reminded Tony.

"Yeah, that might be what Loki-Doki thought, but you're as magical as he is," Tony insisted, picking up a screw driver and twirling between his fingers.

"Not magical. I'm human. I'm from Earth," Jess pointed out. "A very non-magical one."

"Well, maybe that's just it. You're from another Earth!"

"We're more un-magical on that Earth than this one. Remember? All of this only exists in the movies," Jess said, motioning around Tony's workshop. (When rebuilding a house, always rebuild the workshop first. Never mind the fact that out of everything, the workshop was the only thing more or less intact at the end of the day. Clear out the rubble, yell at Bird Brain for putting arrows in everything, and get back to work.) "There's no aliens on Other Earth. No Norse Gods walking around, no real Harry Potter. Just a bunch of actors acting and special effects."

"There's no Harry Potter here. And magic wasn't real until Loki showed up and showed us the force," Tony said. "I need to science it."

Jess snorted. "Science it."

"Yeah, so wave your hands around and think of magic."

"Not England?"

"No! Don't lay back and think of England," Tony snapped. "Come on. I made a new scanner and everything."

Tony picked up the scanner and waved it at her. Jess stared at him, sighed deeply and began to wave her arms above her head while wiggling her fingers.

"Dear Loki, _I'm counting UFOs. I signal them with my lighter and in this moment I am happy-happy. I wish you were here. The world's a roller coast and I'm not strapped in. Maybe I should hold with care, but my hands are busy in the air. I wish you were here. _Love, Jess_," _Jess warbled.

"I don't get it," Tony flatly said. "Are you trying to sing?"

"I hate you," Jess said, letting her arms drop. "Are you still not building your army of Iron Man suits?"

"Yes, I am still not building it," Tony agreed, grabbing his screw driver to tighten something that wasn't loose on his scanner. "You know me. Why do I need an army of Iron Man suits when I've got a soothsayer on my side?"

"Not a soothsayer, Tony," Jess tiredly said. "Can we be done?"

Tony made a shooing motion with his hand. He kept his eyes on the scanner till Jess was gone. He glanced around and asked, "JARVIS, where's Jess going?"

"Ms Witton is going to the gym."

"What?"

"She is doing some of her own experimenting on her own time," JARVIS reported.

Helpfully, JARVIS brought up the video feed from the gym. Jess was standing there, frowning, and trying to do something by jumping forward. Mostly she just fell on the ground. During her time under Mind Control by Insane-o Loki, Jess had been able to do great feats of amazingness. She could shoot a gun, fight like she'd been trained from birth, and had the ability to be graceful. Normal Jess couldn't shoot a gun and she was all limbs when she tried to do anything coordinated. Unless she was in heels. Then Jess could do almost anything. Well, except shoot a gun. She was likely the only Texan who couldn't shoot a gun.

Tony put down the screw driver and instructed JARVIS to cut the feed. Making sure JARVIS wouldn't let anyone into the workshop, Tony headed over to a hidden panel. After entering his code and scanning his eye and palm print, he headed down the stairs into the sub-subbasement of his house. No one knew about this part of the house except himself. He built this workshop himself after the house was built. In this basement he worked on his army of Iron Man suits.

Jess had told him the main points of _Iron Man 3_. (Tony was so cool on Other Earth had had three movies. Three. No one else had three. And all his had simple titles. No subtitle to the movie. Just Iron Man.) One of the main points was an army of suits. It sounded like a great idea to Tony, so once he'd arrived in Malibu to oversee the reconstruction of his house, he set to work on making his army. He knew he'd not need it like the Tony in the movie, but who knew about after the movie. Jess and Loki didn't know what was going to happen after _Iron Man 3_ was over and done with, so Tony had to be prepared. Tony was glad he was as the Mandarin was still running around blowing people up even after the SHEILD raid. Jess had no clue where all the bombings happened in the movie, but knew where the hideout was located. SHEILD had gotten to the actor in Miami, but a few months later, the bombings continued and there was another man claiming to be the Mandarin. Turned out the title was handed down. SHIELD had yet to track down the new one.

However, Tony wasn't so not going to have the issues Movie Tony had. For one, he wasn't suffering from PTSD. Nope. There was nothing wrong with him. So, yeah, like his counterpart, he'd flown up into the portal, threw a nuke at the alien army, and then basically died till the Hulk screamed in his face, but Tony was fine.

Yeah, Tony wasn't sleeping, but it was due to the usual things. Nothing to do with the Battle of Malibu.

Nope.

"Sir, you have a phone call," JARVIS intoned.

"From?"

"Mr Hogan, sir."

Tony debated on a few minutes if he wanted to deal with Happy. Since going to work for Pepper at Stark Industries as head of security, every single time someone "odd" showed up to see her (and Pepper had a lot of meetings with "odd" people), Happy called to make sure the guy wasn't the madman behind the Mandarin. (Jess couldn't remember the guy's actual name. She remembered the actor who played him, but not the character's name. Seeing as there was no one named Guy Pearce on this Earth, she was kind of useless.)

(Maybe she and Dummy got together on the weekends to discuss ways they could not be helpful?)

(No, she couldn't get together with Dummy. Dummy hung out down here with Tony and only Tony knew about this lab.)

(Well, JARVIS knew, but JARVIS knew everything Tony knew. And then some. Dummy didn't know where he was, hence his uselessness.)

"Sir?"

"What?"

Dummy poked Tony.

"What? Seriously, what is with the poking?"

Dummy poked Tony again and made a whirling noise. Tony swatted Dummy's robotic arm away. "Go over there. Yeah, over there."

Dummy sadly rolled to the other side of the underground lab, looking pathetic.

"Sir, Mr Hogan still wishes to speak to you."

"Give him to Jess."

"Ms Witton has already spoken with Mr Hogan, sir."

"Huh? He called her first?"

"No, sir. After you left him on hold for fifteen minutes and forty-two seconds, I inquired if he would like to speak to Ms Witton instead. They spoke for a total of twenty-two minutes and fourteen seconds. Ms Witton offered what she could and Mr Hogan is requesting to speak to you on the matter."

"Huh," Tony mused, frowning deeply. He set aside the gauntlet that was in his hand for some reason. He didn't remember picking it up and he was just holding it, not tinkering or anything normal)

Okay, so he didn't have PTSD or anything, but something strange had been happening to Tony since the Battle of Malibu: he lost track of time while not actually doing anything. Before, he lost track of time due to working on something. Now, he'd be sitting somewhere and suddenly an hour was gone and he hadn't been doing anything.

"Sir?"

"Put him through."

"Tony?" came Happy's voice from the ceiling.

"Hey, how ya doing?"

"I'm worried," Happy said in a rush. "Jess and I are pretty sure we've got him."

"Got who?"

"The real Mandarin! This guy, Aldrich Killian, is super…creepy. I'm getting really bad vibes off him."

"Happy, everyone gives you bad vibes."

"That's not true."

"Okay, so, why does Jess think it's Killian? What does this creep-o have the others don't?"

"I showed her a picture. He's Guy Pearce."

"Huh," Tony said, grabbing a wrench and studying it. "So, we've found him and he's currently meeting with Pepper?"

"Yeah. Should I shoot him?"

"What?" Tony asked, dropping the wrench. It clattered loudly, echoing around the lab. "Since when do you just shoot people?"

"He's showing Pepper something and he's creeping me out."

"Don't shoot people who creep you out unless they shoot you first," Tony ordered. "Alright. I'm on my way."

"Hold on," Happy whispered loudly. "He's leaving."

There was a long moment of Happy loudly breathing into the phone before he said, "He's left. I'm going to go talk to Pepper."

"Wait!"

Happy hung up before Tony could request Happy detain the jerk. Muttering to himself, Tony exited his super secret lab and entered his known to the world lab.

"JARVIS, call SHIELD."

"Anyone within SHIELD?"

"Well, you know I love bothering to Nick, but I don't care who you call right now. Whoever you call, tell them the Mandarin is actually named Aldrich Killian."

"Yes, sir. Would you like to speak to Director Fury when he calls?"

"Naw. I'm busy."

* * *

_I've tried but I couldn't find any warning of you dear / It's hard to make any sense of what I feel here / All I know is that my days go on and on without you here _

_-Greg Laswell, "Days Go On"_

* * *

Steve Rogers twirled a pencil between his fingers, blankly staring out the window of his Brooklyn apartment. He watched people going about their lives (staring at cell phones, plugged into the phones with earphones to block the world out) and the sleek cars crawling along (cars looks so…small). While things were strange, Steve no longer felt all that jarred when he looked out the window and was met with 2012 rather than 1942.

The world kept spinning while Steve "slept" and while it was hard to get his mind around the future at first, he was getting used to it— if getting used to it meant he felt like a cartoon character catapulted forward and falling face first into the mud repeatedly.

Shaking his head, Steve looked back at his sketchbook. He stared at the drawing, sighed, and slammed the book shut.

He only sketched one thing these days.

Even when Steve went out, sat in a park, and made himself sketch trees, _He_ always wound up in the drawing.

Steve thought it'd be easier with Jess off in California with Tony. Jess reminded Steve strongly of _Him_. Steve knew it was partly due to the fact he associated Jess with Him because they were best friends, but Steve had been unprepared for the similar nose, same thin lips, and the dark hair. And then she had gone and opened her eyes. Loki had a unique eye color— a beautiful mixture of Coke bottle green, mint, isle royal greenstone, honey dew, and flecks of emerald. From the moment Steve had looked into those eyes, his fingers had itched for a paintbrush in order to capture the brilliance.

Then Jess opened her eyes and had the same otherworldly eye color. It made sense that Loki was otherworldly, as he was from another world. But Jess…Jess was from another Earth. She was a human being, a mortal, and perfectly average.

(Well, until Reindeer Games did something to her that left her with magic. But according to Clint, her eyes had been that unique shade of green before the Mentally Unbalanced Half turned her into an…interesting drone.)

But those eyes…

"I'm so…screwed," Steve muttered, testing out some of the 'local slang' as Jess referred to it.

Steve might be ninety some years old, but he looked twenty-five. Letting something from the forties slip out instantly alerted people he was Captain America. And the fact he was "drool worthy" (as Jess put it) didn't help matters, as that was usually why people were paying attention in the first place. Add the whole formerly lost war hero into the mix and Steve had issues doing things normal people took for granted.

(Steve had no feelings on his physical appearance, though it was nice to know others thought he was handsome. It was still jarring to have this attention, as he was still not used to it being directed at him rather than Bucky.)

(Oh, Bucky…)

"HEY! ROGERS! What did I tell you about locking your front door!"

Steve lifted his head off the table to find Clint Barton holding a greasy bag with the look of amusement he usually wore when he "broke" into Steve's apartment.

"Old habits die hard," Steve offered lamely.

"You're still lucky it's only me and Witton who keep breaking into your apartment," Clint chided, dumping the contents of the bags onto the table. "And speaking of Witton, now that she's flown off to LA with Stark, I can introduce you to the joys of fast food!"

"Fast food?"

Due to the grease seeping through the wrappers, was glad the serum caused his metabolism worked overtime.

"Burgers and fries from Five Guys. I don't know what Witton's got against this joint. Food of the gods, I say. Plus, I bet Loki would LOVE this," Clint teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

Clint always told Steve Loki would LOVE something after the first time Jess had said it, Steve had immediately tried the super sugary coffee drink Jess was offering. (It was disgusting. Then again, all coffee tasted wrong except the instant stuff that made everyone else gag.) Unfortunately Clint was there, so now Clint always said it, likely to make Steve turn slowly into a tomato.

(Steve wished he'd stop blushing at the mere mention of Loki. It was ridiculous.)

(Steve wished Loki would hurry up and get the message to them on what happened to him on Asgard.)

(Or get his butt back to Earth.)

(No, he didn't.)

(Yes. Steve wanted to see him again. As a friend. They were friends. Nothing more.)

(Yeah, you tell yourself that Rogers.)

(Steve should burn his sketchbooks. They made him look like a stalker with all those drawing of Loki.)

(Then again, Bucky WAS only his friend and he had had notebooks full of Bucky. Mostly because Bucky was the only person who'd sit still for him. And he spent all his time with Bucky growing up. He didn't—)

"Here," Clint said, holding out a rather tall cup. He shoved it further under Steve's nose when Steve failed to take it right away. Clint shook it sending condensation all over the place. "It's like ice cream, but better."

Steve snatched the cup, glaring at Clint for getting water droplets on his (stalker) sketchbook. He popped the lid.

"I've had a milkshake before, Clint."

"Not from McDonalds," Clint sang.

Steve noted the cup did have a different logo than the bag. "Why didn't you get food from McDonalds? They sell food, don't they?"

"Oh, man, no. You need Five Guys."

Clint turned one of the mismatched wooden chairs at Steve's table around and sat on it backwards (how Clint usually sat at tables unless the chair was attached or a stool). He shoved one of the wrapped sandwiches and an open ended container of fries at Steve, then began to unwrap his own meal.

"So, drawing anything besides Loki?"

Steve glared at Clint, refusing to answer. Clint took this as an answer and grinned before taking a huge bite of his burger. He happily chewed for a moment and swallowed loudly.

"The quicker you get over your hang ups and adopt two-thousand twelve's way of thinking, the better. I swear to you, Lokes will be back any day now. Just wait. Then you can go back to making doe eyes at one another."

"Doe eyes?"

Clint demonstrated.

"I do not look like that."

"Yeah. You do. Loki's a little better at it, due to the nature of his face. And the fact he's Loki."

Steve pressed his lips together and glared at Clint. He knew Clint meant well. It wasn't Clint's fault the world kept spinning while Steve and his old social mores were on ice. Steve had always known he was different. At first, he figured the reason dames simply didn't enjoy his company was due to the fact he was shorter and smaller than them and that he simply enjoyed the male form due to the fact he was an artist.

Then, he was Captain America and the dames were all keen on him. It was bewildering and Peggy was right: Steve really didn't know a thing about women.

And he didn't really want to.

Well, okay, he did kind of want to know something about women. He liked women. Just not as he was supposed to evidently. He'd kissed (meaning he participated in the kiss) two women in his life. The first, the blonde in London, had caught him by surprise. He'd no clue what to do and he'd been secretly happy Peggy had interrupted. Till he realized Peggy was ticked off at him because of what she'd interrupted.

Then he'd gone off, raided Hydra compounds, and punched a lot of Nazi soldiers. He kept a photo of Peggy in his compose because…well, he didn't want the others to try to set him up whenever they stopped near a town. He figured Peggy wouldn't find out—but then that stupid camera man got it on film for one of the new reels.

Thus, it didn't surprise him (too much) when during that final Hydra raid Peggy kissed him.

God, he wanted to feel something. He knew he should be feeling something, but nothing. It felt kind of like being kissed by…well, Bucky. Only on the lips. Bucky usually only kissed him on the head while having Steve in the headlock. It usually made Steve feel warm, in a fond way.

That's how he'd felt when Peggy kissed him.

The romantic in Steve knew that while he could have lived with that warm, fond feeling he wanted more. So much more.

* * *

_See this rolling wave / Darkly coming to take me home / And I've never been so alone / And I've never been so alive_

_-Third Eye Blind, "Motorcycle Drive By"_

* * *

Loki knelt before a golden throne, head bowed in submission. He was shackled in familiar magical cuffs as well as a heavy chain around his neck. The neck chain was hooked onto loops that were coming out of the shiny, black floor. Loki was dressed in the same dirty, battle-worn leather and metal armor Clint had last seen him wearing.

What the hell was going on? Because if Clint had to guess, he'd say he was on Asgard. And he'd no idea how he'd gotten there when all he'd done was go to sleep.

Clint turned around and was startled to find he was next to an old guy wearing a whole lot of gold and holding a large staff. The gold armor was similar the style Thor and Good Loki sported.

Well, if this was the king, where was Thor? Actually, where was anyone. The room was empty, save for Loki and the king.

"Loki," rumbled a deep voice, sounding very regal.

Yup. Totally the king.

Wait, if Clint was dream visiting Asgard, why the heck was he still in his pjs?

"What the hell?" Cling asked at the same time the king ordered, "Look at me."

Loki raised his head, his straggly black hair falling into his eyes. His brilliantly green eyes glanced at Clint, then to the empty space to the right of the king before he looked at the king.

"And why didn't you shower?" Clint went on heedless of the fact there was a full blown king next to him and he was standing around in his pjs. (Why hadn't he dreamed himself into some Asgardian armor?)

Loki cocked his head to the side, cringing a little as if someone was shouting right into his ear.

"Loki, have you anything to say?" the king asked.

Loki's eyes stared straight before drifting to the right. He shrugged.

It must have been something the king wasn't used to seeing, as he remained in his kingly manner only a beat before sighing deeply— the kind of like how Fury doing at Stark.

"Son," Loki's mouth did that tightening thing it did whenever Thor called him _brother_ but he didn't react further and the king didn't seem to notice, "Thor has explained that your actions on Midgard were not taken under your own mental prowess and you are effected by madness."

Loki shrugged.

The man on the throne stared at the chained man on the floor with a look of regret in his eyes— and a little frustration.

"This is your chance to speak freely, Loki. To speak as my son," the man quietly urged.

Loki's mouth went tight, his eyebrow twitched, but he remained silent.

"Say something, you idiot!" Clint shouted. Clint glanced over to his left only to find the king clearly hadn't heard him. Clint hurried down the stairs, noting Loki was staring at him as the noise of his bare feet hitting the shiny floor echoed around the hall. "Why are you channeling a mime? He's giving you a chance to talk as his kid not his subject! Say something! And stop shrugging. It's all kinds of wrong."

Loki's eyes darted away from Clint to his left and right, then back to center.

"Loki, what is wrong?"

"Fa—O—All-Father," Loki decided, shaking his head as if to clear out some cobwebs. "What Thor said is true. The actions…of…my…self on Midgard were…in part…influenced by Thanos."

The king made an angry noise, standing suddenly.

"What did he do?"

"I'm sure Thor told you."

"Thor mentioned Thanos's control over you, but for him to get that control, Thanos must have done more than simply speak to you whilst in his custody, my son," the king quietly said, his grip on his huge cane turning his knuckles white.

Loki's entire face tightened for a second before it slipped into an unfeeling smirk.

"Oh, why don't we wait till everyone in Asgard is here. I'm sure they will be thrilled to hear my tail of cowardliness and failure," Loki sarcastically drawled, drawing himself up taller. The chains rattled. "That way I'll only need to recount it once."

Clint sighed, kneading the spot between his eyebrows.

"Loki, what happened to you?" the king questioned.

"I was ripped apart in the void."

"No. Before that."

Clint looked up when Loki didn't answer. Loki's whole face was expressionless till his head moved as if he'd been whacked upside the head. The king looked concerned.

"Loki?"

Loki said nothing, but glared to his right. The king wasn't sure what to make of all this, but decided to push on with his agenda.

"Loki, I apologize for keeping your true heritage from you —"

"You do not— I don't— I under—" Loki stopped speaking, looking to the right with a cloudy expression on his face. Then he deflated. "I understand why you did so. I am attempting not to hold it against you."

The king appeared surprised by this development. And looked as if he didn't know what to do with that nugget. He cleared his throat, opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking. Loki was clearly listening to something that was on his right side.

"Loki? Are you well?"

"Yo, Lokes, I think your dad will agree you're a Looney Toon if you keep paying attention to your empty right side."

Loki turned his attention to Clint and gave him a paint peeling look.

"Loki!" the king snapped.

Loki turned his attention to the king.

"You are not well."

"I am well," Loki replied firmly.

The king looked doubtful about this, but decided to take Loki's work for it.

"Your punishment for your crimes will be imprisonment."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "You're going to put me in a box?"

"You seem disturbed."

"I am not," Loki insisted. "Something had drawn Jessica Witton, who is standing to my right, and Agent Clint Barton, who is standing to my left, here. I do not know what, but I'd guess it has something to do with the compulsion I put them under."

A thunderous expression appeared on the king's face. Loki flinched as if someone was shouting in his right ear.

"They are not under my control, Fa—All-Father," Loki corrected. "They are here…on their own terms…judging by how they are speaking to me."

"Hey! I've hardly said anything!" Clint protested.

"I am sure they are here because the Midgardians I associated with during my time with the Avengers are worried what is to become of me," Loki explained, giving a thunderous look to his left. He waited a beat before turning his attention back to the king. "I apologize for my distraction."

"That is fine, Loki."

"Jessica would like you to know she disapproves of you not telling me, yet she understands why you did so," Loki ground out. "She would also like you to know that I will need someone to speak to in order to get…better."

Loki turned his attention to Clint.

"I don't know what crimes he is punishing your for, Lokes," Clint admitted. "I mean, it sounded like you just had a bad few days, then went nuts. On Earth, you'd plead insanity and go to a hospital. I have a feeling there's no mental health here."

"Jessica, please stop shouting," Loki snapped, turning away from Clint. "I am sorry I left, but I had—"

Clint smirked. Witton likely had some choice words for Loki. While she'd dealt with being abandoned on Earth without the one person she actually knew, Clint knew the whole being left with magic thing kind of freaked her out.

"You what?" Loki asked, a worrying look appearing on his face. "That cannot—"

"Loki!" snapped the king.

Loki turned his attention to his father.

"The trial will begin shortly and I must behave as your king and not your father."

Loki nodded.

"Will they remain for the trial?"

"You simply plan to imprison me for my crimes against Asgard? I committed treason."

"You did not," the king said, looking a little more calm. "Everything you did was in the name of Asgard and her protection. While not exactly the way it ought to have been done, both your brother and your mother will stand witness you were not in your right mind."

"I was in my right mind when I invited the Frost Giants into the weapons vault," Loki quietly admitted.

"No, Loki. You were not," the king said softly.

"I was."

"No, Loki."

Loki looked as if he was going to burst.

"Calm, my son. You've not been well for quite some time," the king softly said. "We were all too arrogant to notice."

Loki frowned.

"Lady Jessica, Son of Barton, I will not harm Loki," the king proclaimed, looking over to where Clint was standing and then to where Clint assumed Witton was. "The people want justice for the error of his ways before he fell from the Bifrost, but with the witnessing of Queen Frigga and Prince Thor, they will understand his punishment of imprisoned. That is what many of your cultures on Midgard do with criminals, is it not?"

Clint didn't respond, but Loki said, "Yes."

"Loki, I will bind your magic till you are seen fit of mind," the All-Father went on. "I will allow you to say goodbye to your compatriots. Loki, are they the only ones here?"

"Yes. I believe out of the people's whose minds I compelled, Jessica was the only one I bonded with—likely due to the fact one half of myself spent nine months forming a bond of friendship. Jessica formed a bond with Agent Barton."

"So, Lady Jessica dragged Agent Barton here?"

Loki shrugged.

"Loki," the king warned.

"I've seem to have…done something to Jessica during my time on Midgard," Loki admitted. "She…was left with traces of magic after I put a spell on her to make her appear as Tony Stark."

The king frowned deeply.

"I'm sure Thor mentioned she felt like his hammer to you," Loki went on. "It seems to have gotten worse in the months we've been gone."

"Months? Loki you arrived here mere hours ago."

"Months have passed for Clint and Jessica."

"Months?" Clint asked. "You just got here?"

"Yes, Clint," Loki said, trying to raise his hand to his right ear only to find it was attached to his waist by the magical cuffs.

"Loki, say your goodbyes. I will return in a moment to bind your magic before the trail begins."

With that, the king vanished behind the throne and into thin air as far as Clint could tell.

"Clint."

Clint turned to Loki. "Yeah?"

"You cannot see one another?"

"Nope."

Loki nodded. "I hope when my punishment is complete I am able to see you again."

"Uh, duh." Clint smirked. "Hey, I'll let you in on a secret, 'kay?"

Loki looked confused.

"There's this blond guy— totally built and has great big blue eyes that I bet there's a million songs written about somewhere— anyway, he's back on Earth and turns a hundred shades of red at the mere mention of you and has stalker sketchbooks filled with your face. So, you gotta come back. To at least see him," Clint said, smirking larger as Loki's cheeks turned light pink. "Yeah, you know who I'm talking about."

Loki quickly arranged his face to look annoyed. However, whatever he was going to say Clint didn't get to hear as he woke suddenly to find himself in his dark bedroom, breathing rather heavily and quickly for not having an actual nightmare. He lay a moment till his phone began to vibrate on his nightstand. He blindly slapped his hand around the tabletop till he found his phone.

"So, they're just going to lock him up till the Dark Elves attack," Witton announced the moment Clint hit the accept button. "Just like I saw in the trailer for _Thor 2_. He's just going to sit there and be apathetic."

"He might get out before that," Clint suggested.

"No. I doubt it. Clint, he's…he doesn't care. You saw him. Was he like that after he put himself back together?"

"Well, yeah, pretty much."

"He's only going to get worse if they just lock him up and throw away the key."

"I have a feeling they're not going to throw away the key, Witton. The king seemed kind of worried about Loki's state of mind."

"We both know they don't have mental health on Asgard. Therapy isn't something that's known there. They are warriors. They don't break their minds. Loki didn't even know he could get depressed till he showed up on Other Earth and even then he was the first person he knew to be depressed. I'm sure he didn't even know what depression was till he was on Other Earth and looked it up."

"Looked it up?"

"Yeah, well, I told him he was a depressed cat. I have a feeling when I was at work, he used my computer to look it up to see if he was a depressed cat. I mean, I sure as didn't go to all those medical websites that my computer seemed to know."

Clint snickered. He loved Cat Loki stories. Though, this wasn't a very good one. The best ones contained missing left shoes and MIA keys.

"Well, at least we can tell everyone what's become of Lo," Witton went on. "I mean, isn't Steve just dying to know?"

"Uh, yeah. But, uh, what was with the time travel aspect? I mean, Loki left like six months ago."

"Yeah. I don't know. I'm totally not a magical expert, you do know that, right?"

"Yeah, Witton. I know. We'll just chalk it up to the whacky Tesseract," Clint decided.

"Good. Yeah. I like that. Stupid blue box."

"So, how's California?"

"Hot. New York?"

"Loud."

"So, Tony claims he's not building an army of Iron Man suits."

"We both know he is."

"Yeah. He's getting pretty frustrated with me for not being able to do more than make green smoke appear in my hands."

"Hey, that's an improvement."

"Not really. I was doing that before we left for Cali," Witton reminded him. "At least he's listened to me about the whole Mandarin thing."

"Yeah. Fat lot of good that did. He's still blowing shit up."

"Language Agent Barton."

"Whatever. Oh, since I've got you, I'm going off the grid."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"Oh…OH! That's why none of y'all came to Tony's aid in_ Iron Man 3._"

"Or it could have to do with the fact Tony always does things on his own," Clint pointed out. "He doesn't like help. Not a team player."

"Eh. He's learning. Do you want to tell Steve or do you want me to tell him?"

"Well, since I'm going off grid tomorrow morning, or today I guess, why don't you?"

"Fine. Too bad I won't be able to see him turn ten shades of red," Witton snickered.

"You do know we're both going to hell for mocking him so much, right?"

"Hey, at least I'll have a friend."

"Later Witton."

"Later Barton."

Clint waited for her to hang up before dialing again.

"Agent Coulson."

"No, this is Agent Barton."

"Barton."

"Stark's building an army of Iron Man suits and Witton and I just had this weird dream session with Loki. He's being locked away till he's sane," Clint reported, getting out of bed. Might as well get up, as he didn't think he was going back to sleep.

"Are you okay?"

"What? Yeah. Loki said the reason we were there, well, the reason Witton was there was due to the fact they have a bond of friendship and that Witton dragged me there because she's attached to me." There was a heavy silence so Clint added, "As a friend."

"It took them six months to figure out what to? Asgardian justice is slow."

"No! That was six months ago. We were there the day they arrived in Asgard. They don't waste time."

"So, he's been locked up for six months and we're just now finding out?"

"Yeah. Seems so."

Clint opened the cabinet and took out the coffee beans. Clint hated instant, so he ground his own and used a fancy French press to make his coffee. It took forever, but man did it taste better.

"Any clue why?"

"Nope," Clint said, pouring the beans into the grinder.

Coulson sighed deeply. Likely kneading the pressure points on his head.

"Hey, look at it this way, he's not being tortured and as soon as he's proved to the king, also known as his father, he's not going to go off and turn back into the rage filled, subjugating super villain he tired to be for like five-seconds, he'll be let out and his first stop will be good old Midgard."

"Earth. We call it Earth here."

"Personally, I like Midgard. Better than calling the planet dirt."

"We call the dirt _earth_ because it's what it's made out of."

"Sure. You tell yourself that, Coulson."

Coulson let out a rather loud sigh. "Agent Barton, please come into headquarters as soon as possible. We'll go over what you told me about the Stark Situation and then you can file the report for Loki."

"What? I called you so you could file it!"

* * *

_You know it's kind of hard / Just to get along today / Our subject isn't cool / But, he fakes it anyway_

_-The Offspring, "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)"_

* * *

**_Right Here. Right Now_**

* * *

_We'll turn your nightmares back into dreams / First you've got to close your eyes / Then you'll get another chance to redeem_

_-Sense Field, "Weight of the World"_

* * *

Pepper Pots was packing because Tony Stark was a certifiable moron.

The man was a genius (she'd seen all the paperwork backing this statement up and witnessed his brilliance in person a few times), but when it came to common sense, Tony had none. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Pepper had been understanding the past six months through the paranoia, the nightmares, and the bullheaded stubbornness that was Tony Stark denying there was a problem. She was not going to be understanding when Tony KNEW what was going to happen if he challenged the terrorist group to come find him after Happy had been injured in one of the Mandarin's terrorist bombings. (Wrong place, wrong time. Poor Happy.)

So, Pepper was packing. And then she was going drag Tony by the ear out of the house.

Pepper shouldn't have been surprised Tony shot off his mouth to the press. It was what he did. It was honestly amazing the public didn't have his address already.

"You know, Batman didn't tell anyone where the Batcave was located," came Jess's voice from the entry hall where she and Tony were arguing. And had been since Tony had returned home from the hospital. (Jess Witton had been less surprised yet more angry than Pepper when she found out what Tony had done. While Pepper didn't really know Jess too well (mostly just this random person Tony began to drag around with him after the Battle of Malibu), she knew when Jess said something bad was going to happen, it was going to happen. And Pepper understood Jess knew this due to being from a world where their lives were all movies.)

(Weird, but not unlikely. There were real life Norse gods walking around for heaven's sake. Of course Jess Witton could be from another Earth where Pepper was just a fictional character.)

(Jess also liked Tony. Like actually, genuinely _liked_ Tony. No one _liked_ Tony. Hell, Pepper didn't even like Tony all the time and she was pretty sure Rhodey was the same. They both loved him, but they didn't like him all the time. Jess _liked_ Tony like, well, his bots liked him. If Pepper didn't know any better, she'd believe that Tony had built Jess.)

(The day Tony actually built a walking, human looking bot was the day the world was going to end.)

"I'm not Batman. I'm Iron Man."

"Anyone can be Batman. That's the brilliance of keeping his actual identity under wraps."

"Nope. Only Bruce Wayne can be Batman. No average Joe's got the dough to be Batman. Wait, I can be Batman. I've got lots of money. And I'm so much more fun," Tony bragged. "I'm Iron Man and Batman!"

Jess did not reply.

"And, it'll be fine. We know they'll send missiles and crap. I knew this so I installed my own, Mrs. Slocombe. I'll shoot off my own and take them down."

Jess let out a bellow of outrage.

"You're an idiot!"

"I'm a genius."

"YOU. ARE. AN. IDOIT."

The doorbell rang.

Ding dong, Terrorists calling!

Pepper threw the last few things into her bag and hurried out of the bedroom. While Tony thought his house was bullet proof, Pepper knew nothing was truly bullet proof.

"OH MY GOD. GO AWAY," Jess bellowed.

The door slammed as Pepper came down the stairs.

"Who was that?" Tony demanded, crossing the foyer to where Jess was standing by the front door. "You can't be rude to people who come to see me. It might be the terrorists."

"They will not ring your doorbell!"

"They might. They might be polite terrorists."

"You're a moron."

"I am not. I'm a genius."

"You keep telling yourself that, Stark."

"SHUT UP!" Pepper shouted as the doorbell rang insessantly. "You, get your bag. You, just shut up and say nothing."

"Pep-"

"NOTHING!" Pepper shouted, pointing at Tony.

Jess picked up her bag as the ringing stopped and someone began pounding on the door, shouting. Pepper strode over and yanked the door open to find a flustered looking woman.

"What do you want? We're leaving."

"Oh, uh, well, that's good."

"I am not leaving!" Tony shouted. "This house is bullet proof! I built it that way!"

"WE ARE LEAVING AND I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!"

Tony's mouth snapped shut.

"You need that trick like the Doctor has. Shhh," Jess said, putting her finger to her lips. "And she's with the bad guy, though she'll change her mind later and he'll shoot her for it because he's the bad guy and that's what they do."

"Fine. I'll take her with me," Pepper decided.

"NO! Then Killian will kidnap you!"

"He will not. I'm not going to a spa. Who goes to a spa when they are running from terrorists?"

"What?" the woman asked.

"Let's go," Pepper announced and grabbed the arm of the woman, towing her towards the waiting car. The woman was sputtering, but allowed herself to be pulled along. Pepper was about to open the car door when the house behind her exploded.

* * *

_I couldn't stop myself / I started running but there's no where to run / Said where you going man / You know the world is headed for hell_

_-Matchbox 20, "Let's See How Far We've Come"_

* * *

Tony flew forwards and landed on his face as a fireball went over his head. Before he registered exactly what was happening, his legs and arms were scrambling to get out the door, as it seemed the front of his formerly put together house was still intact. From far away he could hear the noise of machine guns and falling debris. He'd just about made it to where the front door when two things happened: Jess, Pepper, and the random woman all vanished in a glow of green light and the floor fell out from under him.

"WHAT THE HELL! I JUST REBUILT THIS PLACE!" Tony screamed as more wall around him exploded.

Clearly, his house wasn't bullet proof.

He was totally suing the person who— oh, wait. That was him.

He couldn't sue himself.

How had he failed to design his house to be-

They weren't using bullets. The house was falling apart way too fast for simple bullets. There were also no bullets flying through the air. He could hear the machine guns, but the destruction was all wrong.

What the hell?

Tony scrambled for purchase and thought very, very, very hard.

"JARVIS!" he shouted. "DEPLOY!"

He didn't think it'd exactly work. He was the idiot who decided to get rid of the bracelets in a fit of genius. And his new way of calling the suit to himself wasn't exactly perfect.

Yet.

But at the moment it didn't matter. The floor was crumbling fast and if he didn't suddenly have Iron Man to fly him to safety, he was done for.

"WHY IS IT ALWAYS MY HOUSE?!" Tony asked as he lost his battle to get to the front door and began to fall towards the ocean below. "OH FU-"

* * *

_There we were / Now here we are / All this confusion / Nothing's the same to me / But I can't tell you the way I feel_

_-Oasis, "Columbia"_

* * *

"Did you just teleport us to New York?" Pepper faintly asked when the world ceased spinning and the contents of her stomach stopped threatening to expel themselves.

"What the hell..." The other woman trailed off, swaying back and forth till she collapsed on the ground next to Pepper.

"OMG. OMG. OMG. What the hell did I just do?" Jess asked in a high pitched voice, stumbling backwards and falling down the stairs the led down from the elevator. "I did not just do that! I can't! I'm a freaking human being whose lucky to be breathing! And that's that! I'm not Harry Potter!"

"Well, you've got the eyes," the stranger joked lightly. She made a move to stand, but did not have control of her limbs.

Jess scrambled backwards till she was pressed up against the couch, breathing erratically. This lasted a few moments before she began to cackle. Green sparks began to fly over her skin, which only made her cackle more.

Jess was having a mental break down. Or something.

"JARVIS, where's Tony?"

"Unknown, Ms Potts."

"Unknown?"

"Correct, Ms Potts."

"Can I see the news?"

On a flat screen near the couches, the news came on and of course they were showing the attack on Tony's house in Malibu.

It kept falling into the ocean. Over and over.

The entire world turned to white noise.

"Ms Potts?"

Pepper realized she was sitting on the couch. When had that happened? She blinked and Steve Rogers crouching in front of her, wearing a very concerned expression. He was also holding an Iron Man helmet.

"How did you get that?"

"Well, Jess did something to the locks on Tony's lab. She'll be sorry when she finally wakes up."

"Wakes up?"

"Steve knocked her out," another voice said from behind.

"I did not. I gave her one of her anxiety pills and you did some sort of ninja mojo on her when it didn't do anything. So, you knocked her out."

Natasha Romanov smirked. "Ah, but you're the one who had to wrestle her to the ground to get her to take the pill."

"What's going on?" Steve asked Pepper, ignoring Natasha. "I mean, we've seen the news, but we all knew this was going to happen. Didn't Tony take precautions?"

"NO!" Pepper shrieked. "Why do you have a helmet?"

"Oh, as soon as Tony is safe, he'll call you. Only you'll be able to pick up the message."

Steve extended the helmet to Pepper. She looked inside and didn't see a blinking light or anything. She looked back at Steve.

"It really happened? I'm really in New York and not dead?"

Steve nodded. Natasha nodded.

"Witton says she teleported you and Ms Hanson, who we've taken into custody, to New York the moment the first bomb went off," Natasha flatly reported.

"Bomb?"

"Yeah. Instead of shooting bullets and missiles at the house, there were bombs planted all over the base of the structure. They've been planning on taking Tony out for a while. Not just since he shot his mouth out at the press this afternoon," Natasha reported emotionlessly. "Stark's like a cockroach. He'll be back."

She turned on her heels and stalked out of the penthouse. Pepper turned back to Steve, feeling utterly bewildered.

"Bruce is on his way to look at Jess," Steve said. "She's…a little…well, I think she flipped her wig."

It struck Pepper Steve looked like a worried parent.

"I've seen her have panic attacks before and I've never seen her like this. And, I don't think she ought to be able to teleport herself and two others across the country."

"How'd she do it?"

Steve looked sad. "I don't know. And I doubt we'll find out."

"Because Natasha knocked her out?"

"No. Because..." Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "I think something snapped. And not just from the strange panic attack. The pill usually kicks in pretty fast, but this time...she was bouncing off the walls and talking a mile a minute and shooting off green sparks everywhere. And obsessed with the color pink."

The elevator dinged. Pepper looked behind her to find Bruce walking out, looking a little confused.

"What's going on? I just saw the news," Bruce said.

"Jess teleported herself, Ms Potts, and another woman here from Malibu."

"She what?"

"Yeah. Natasha sort of did something strange and knocked her out. Jess was...a little whacky? Did I use that right?"

"Yes," Bruce assured absently. "You know you should call a real doctor. I'm not a medical doctor."

"You're not?" Steve asked.

"No. But I'll try. Since..." Bruce trailed off, vanishing down one of the hallways towards the bedrooms.

"Will she be okay?" Pepper asked.

"I sure hope so," Steve said, rubbing his neck. "Anyway, how are you?"

"Fine. I think," Pepper admitted. "Not sure. Oh. It's flashing."

Steve took a few steps back and nodded. Pepper put the helmet on.

* * *

_All the mistakes I made / I made because I didn't know myself very well / And by this stage I feel like I really shouldn't know myself_

_-Idlewild, "Blame It On the Obvious Ways"_

* * *

It took Pepper five minutes to listen to whatever message Tony had left. She removed the helmet and stared at it. While her hair was a mess, she looked more composed than she had moments before.

"He's alive. He's in Tennessee for some reason, but he's alive and wants to stay off the grid."

"Tennessee?" Steve asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Pepper shrugged.

Steve couldn't remember what was in Tennessee, or why Tony would be there.

"I wish Loki was here," Bruce proclaimed coming back into the living room. "Her vitals look fine, but she is really warm. I'm sure SHEILD could get an actual doctor here to look at her."

"They could," Steve allowed.

"So, uh...any news?" Bruce asked, looking between Pepper and Steve. Steve looked at Pepper, feeling it was her news to share more so than his.

"Tony's alive. He's going to remain off the grid till he figures something out," Pepper explained. "Off grid in Tennessee. I don't know why he's there. Or how he got there. Did Jess teleport him too?"

"No. I'm pretty sure she only came here," Steve said.

"I'd stay off the grid too if I were Tony. There's a lot one can get done when the world thinks you're dead," Bruce commented, indicating to the TV that was running the news.

All the headlines were stating it was believed Tony Stark was dead. Pepper sank further onto the couch and blankly watched the footage of their home crumbling into the ocean over and over.

"How did he survive that?" Pepper faintly asked, still clutching the helmet.

Steve sighed, wondering what to do. Pepper was a strong woman, so he knew she did not need to be coddled, but she really looked like she could use a hug. However, he didn't feel comfortable enough to give her one. Yes, she was a swell gal, but she was Tony's dame—girlfriend. Clint had pointed out a few times women didn't care to be referred to as dames.

"STEVE!"

Steve startled, turning around to find Jess standing behind him, her hair wild mess and clothes rumpled. She was holding a rather violet pink jar of something.

"What are—"

"How did you—" Bruce started.

"I NEED PINK HAIR!" Jess shouted, waving the jar around. "I see it! Perfectly clear. PINK!"

She wildly smiled. How was her hair blowing around like that?

"PINK! Are you all always so slow?"

She let out a manic sounding laugh, then whizzed around the room at top speed. She was going so fast, she was blurring.

"What the hell?" Bruce asked, watching her with worried eyes.

Jess cackled, suddenly appearing in front of Steve. Her green eyes were almost black her pupils were blown so wide. There were also green sparks dancing around her hands.

"Jess," Steve said softly, reaching out slowly.

"PINK!"

She vanished in an instant, reappearing across the room. She manically giggled, vanishing down the hallway.

"Uh…"

"I'll call Agent Romanov," Bruce said, scratching her head. "She knocked her out before, right?"

"Yeah."

"Though, we might want to tranquilize her," Bruce said. "With the good stuff."

"If we can catch her."

It took an hour and four people, but they finally caught Jess, tranquilized her, and strapped her to bed. Her hair was still floating on its own, but it seemed to stabilize the magic readings— or so Bruce said. Steve opted to remain at her side. He was mildly uncomfortable Bruce had left him with a needle full of whatever they'd used to keep her asleep, but he'd been instructed on how to use it and would to keep her safe.

* * *

_On the day you were born / You arrived with one eye open / In case this sad, old world wasn't as sweet as you were hopin' for_

_-Sons of the Never Wrong, "If I Knew Then"_

* * *

"Iron Patriot is missing."

This was a nightmare. Hell, everything was a nightmare lately. First, Stark's house blew up, second Stark went MIA, and third, Witton decided to channel an out of control drug addict. And now, Iron Patriot was MIA.

"What do you mean he went missing?" Nick Fury growled. "He's with the President now."

"I mean, it's not Colonel Rhodes in that suit," was the reply. "The body temp is too high. It must be someone jacked up on Extremis."

Fury cursed darkly.

Ever since that damn Laufey-Odinson and Witton had shown up, Fury's life was littered with more trouble than he cared for. Add Stark into the mix, and Nick should just up and fake his death. Then he'd not have to worry about any of this crap.

"How the hell did they get the suit?"

"Unknown, sir."

Nick closed his eye and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What should we do, sir?"

"Oh, I don't know. Pull Hawkeye."

"Hawkeye, sir?"

"Yeah. Hawkeye. He's undercover. Tell him he can blow that cover."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

_When I wake up here tomorrow / Things will never be the same / Because I won't wait_

_-Simple Plan, "Don't Wanna Think About You"_

* * *

Tony had had a few long days. Or day. He wasn't actually sure about he passage of time, really. He'd crash landed in the middle of nowhere Tennessee— just as Jess had told the story. He thought JARVIS was playing a bad joke on him, but JARVIS kind of died, so he couldn't really ask him.

He still wasn't totally working.

Tony did not want to exist in a world without a working JARVIS.

Luckily, the garage he'd chosen to break into was indeed the garage of the kid Harley (he was totally going to remember the kid's name because Jess told him he wouldn't) and he'd used some time to repair the Iron Man suit and JARVIS the best he could.

Then some goons of the Mandarin came after him. That was fun.

Then, it was time to drive his butt to Texas. Why Texas?

Because. That's where his research told him the Mandarin was now hanging out. And Tony could understand why SHEILD had failed to track down the new headquarters, as it'd taken Tony almost ten hours to figure it out. And Tony had the added benefit of knowing he was looking for AIM related things and Killian Aldrich.

Killian Aldrich had recently bought a huge mansion outside of Houston. It was in the newspaper.

The actual newspaper. The one printed on paper.

Harley had found it.

Tony wasn't going to tell anyone that bit of information, though.

It was a long ass drive from middle of nowhere Tennessee to Houston. Tony only stopped to refill his tank, drink coffee, and eat a doughnut.

JARVIS in his stolen StarkPhone told him to eat, so he'd had to get a doughnut.

Now, though, he wished he'd eaten a little bit more.

"I knew you'd find me."

Killian grinned, looking rather like he'd gotten into that bag of cats Reindeer Games had used for brains.

"You know, I might pass out."

"The great Tony Stark, at my mercy," Aldrich went on, clearly not listening to Tony.

"Yeah. Totally going to pass out. Should have gotten that sandwich instead of the doughnut."

When had he last eaten? (Besides the doughnut.) He couldn't remember. Likely before his house had blown up.

Aldrich was talking, still making grand, evil plans and then he wasn't. Tony was alone in the room, still bound to a metal bed frame, and was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"You're pathetic, you know that?"

Tony's head snapped back. "Barton?"

"Yeah. When was the last time you ate?"

"Doughnut. I ate one. On the drive here."

Clint might have shaken his head, he might have laughed. Tony wasn't sure. He was sure, though, Clint had cut him loose from the bed frame Killian had cuffed him to when he landed in a heap on the floor.

"Here."

Clint offered Tony a bottle of something. Tony stared, Clint sighed, then set it on the floor. Sniffing it, Tony decided it smelled okay, so he drank it down. If Clint was a hallucination trying to kill him, well, he won.

"I kind of like you like this. If only it wasn't going to kill you," Clint muttered.

"Power smoothy?" Tony inquired, feeling his head clear.

"Yeah. Kind of."

The room finally stopped spinning. Tony chugged a little more while he studied Clint. There was something off about him.

"When did you turn into Legolas? I mean, last time I saw you…you had less hair. And your nose is all wrong."

"I needed a new look," Clint said, pulling his hair off.

"OH MY GOD! You're bald!"

Clint pulled the bald off. And his nose. And he looked like Barton again.

"Let's go find your friend Rhodes. Rumor has it, he is here since Killian put his minion in the Iron Patriot suit."

"What? That happened in the movie!"

"Yeah. Well, it happened. Didn't you tell Rhodes to, I don't know, pay attention to where his orders came from?"

"Yes!"

"And not to take any from the VP?"

"Yes!"

"Well, he flunked Hero 101. No more cookies for him," Clint proclaimed. "Can you walk yet?"

"Yes. What the hell is this? Where can I get some? I'd never have to stop working to eat again!"

Clint gave Tony a look before silently leaving the room. Tony scrambled after him. Everywhere they went in the mansion was littered with downed minions. Clint knew where he was going.

"I guess SHEILD did figure out where the Mandarin was acting out of," Tony remarked.

"Yup," Clint said, throwing open a door. "And behold!"

Tony looked around Clint to find Rhodey tied to the stairs. He'd managed free one hand and was in the mists of freeing the other one.

"Going golfing?" Tony asked, eyeing the polo and khakis Rhodey wore.

Rhodey cut him a cold look and snapped, "They took my suit!"

"They took our jobs!" Clint joked in a strange voice.

"Not the time, Barton," Tony scolded, heading over to Rhodey to free his left hand. "We've got trouble in River City."

"They took my suit!"

"Yes, I heard you the first time," Tony said, unearthing a pocket knife from his pocket. He began to cut the rope. (And who used rope these days? Seriously.)

"They. Took. My. Suit."

"Okay, okay."

"Tony. They stole my suit."

"We know the President is in danger."

"I wasn't protecting the President today. I was with the fake one."

"Yeah, something got messed up," Clint offered. "So, we need to go save Air Force One, which is in Florida. Any idea how to get there without any suits?"

"You don't have a suit?!" Rhodey shrieked. "How'd you get here?"

"Stole a car. Drove it."

"Tony's been stealing," Clint chided. "Bad Tony."

Tony punched Barton in the arm. Hard.

"I am Tony Freaking Stark," Tony proclaimed. "I will figure out how to get us to Miami or where ever."

"Well, I'm Clint Freaking Barton and I know of this really fast speed boat docked near here. One of those billion dollar boats. One of a kind."

"Who does it belong to?"

"Killian."

"And bingo was his name-o!" Tony sung, pointing at Barton. "You two go to the boat, I'll sit here and play a video game."

"What?"

"I hit a button."

"When?"

"Now," Tony said, hitting the button on his phone that should call the Iron Man suit pieces to him. "It'll be a second."

"What will be here?" Rhodey asked.

"My suit."

Rhodey and Clint looked around.

A minute passed. Then another. Crickets chirped.

"Any minute now."

More crickets.

"Let's go. Maybe the suit will find you," Clint suggested dryly, giving Tony a look that stated clearly he thought Tony had lost a few screws along the way.

* * *

_In this life we don't have a lot of time / We don't have the time to waste it / We've got to make the best of what we have _

_-MxPx, "Don't Look Back"_

* * *

The suit did find Tony.

When they were in the car heading for the dock where the boat was stored. The suit pieces crash landed into the car and attempted to connect to Stark through the roof.

"STARK!"

"TONY!"

"JARVIS!"

They pulled over. Tony got out, yelled at the suit like it was a person, then got back into the car.

"Aren't you going put it on?" Clint asked.

"No. It'll go get the President. Oh, I can't fly the suit and drive. Pepper would likely tell me it's not safe, though—"

"Get out of the car. I'll drive," Rhodes ordered, getting out of the backseat.

Stark got into the back and put on a piece of headgear that looked kind of like a futuristic video game.

"Seriously, Stark?" Clint asked.

"Yes, Bird Brain. Now, silent. There are some kinks," Stark grudgingly admitted.

"Yeah. Kinks," Rhodes snickered.

The ride to the boat was silent (well, as silent as it could be with Stark in the backseat yelling to himself). Shortly before they reached the South Harbor Marina in League City, Texas, Stark ripped off the headgear and sighed.

"They got the President."

"Then what was all that shouting?" Clint asked.

"I saved everyone else, duh. By the time I got there, the president was gone."

"So, where we going?" Rhodes asked.

"Well, we're in Texas. What's Texas famous for?"

"Big hair," Clint offered.

"Football," Rhodes suggested.

"Barbecue," Clint said.

"Cowboys."

"Mexican food."

"Longhorns."

"NO! Oil!" Tony said. "Big Texas Oil!"

"Oh!" Clint said. "Oil rigs. Just off the coast here. You think that's where Killian will go?"

"Yeah. He'll want to make a big political statement. We'll just have to figure out which oil rig he'll be at."

Stark produced a laptop from somewhere and began typing away.

* * *

_I'm losing you and it's effortless / Without a sound we lose sight of the ground / In the throw around_

_-The Frey, "Over My Head (Cable Car)"_

* * *

Steve was frozen.

Not literally. He wasn't frozen in the sense he'd been for seventy years while the world kept spinning. No, this time he was frozen in the sense he could not move anything other than his eyeballs. His eyes told him time was creeping by and his ears told him the guy responsible for his paralysis was talking.

And talking.

The guy could seriously monologue.

"I spent the entire night on the roof," he complained as the doors to the elevator opened. Steve looked over to see Jess slowly entering the penthouse, her unearthly green eyes darting between Steve and the blond man, who had somehow overpowered Steve.

Oh, no. Why did she have to wake up when Steve wasn't there to dose her?

Well, at least her hair wasn't floating around like it'd been before.

Wait, she was on the same floor as Steve. Why did she come out of the elevator? The guy had told Steve early on he'd cut off the floor from the rest of the building and gotten rid of JARVIS. (He didn't call him JARVIS, just said he'd given a virus to the security system.)

"Er, what's going on here?" Jess asked, an odd glint in her eye as she stepped down the stairs to the main floor.

"I've taken the building hostage! How did you get the elevator to work?"

"Magic," Jess offered. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, just capturing Iron Man and Captain America," the man arrogantly proclaimed, waving his gun around. "You know, the usual."

"Are you building a super hero collection?" Jess inquried.

"Why, I think I might," the man mused. "Where is Maya? I would like to shoot her for her betrayal."

"SHEILD took her," Jess replied. "Would you like to know why you'll loose at the end of the day?"

Steve tried to shake his head, tried to stop Jess somehow, but she wasn't looking at him so she failed to see his frantic eyes.

"Why?"

Jess smirked (a familiar smirk that sent shivers down Steve's spine) and raised her hands. Instead of the usual green mist, she created blue fire and threw it at the man. It hit him square in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. And instead of being unnerved by this display of power, the man smiled gleefully.

"Oh, aren't you pretty," he purred.

"Pretty," Jess snorted. "Yeah. Sure, Mondego. Wanna see something else?"

Jess vanished in a swirl of green light and reappeared right in front of the man. The man focused on Jess as if she was his whole world.

"Still want Captain America?"

"No."

"Good. How about you and I go somewhere less likely to be invaded by SHIELD at any second," Jess offered, her voice taking on a sultry tone that gave Steve the willies.

Killian nodded.

Steve's heart stopped and his stomach turned over.

"I'll warn you, you better not try to jack me up on your fire drug. I've likely go insane and kill you. Kill Bill style."

Before the man could respond, they both vanished in a swirl of green mist.

Loki was seriously going to kill (or maybe just maim) Steve. He'd failed to keep Jess safe. That was all Loki had ever asked of Steve (not that he had had a lot of time to ask Steve anything) and Jess had just gone off with a man who was likely the Mandarin (Jess seemed to know him, and if he wasn't the Mandarin, then well, how did she know him? It wasn't like Jess got out a lot and socialized with people beyond those who Tony knew).

"Captain Rogers? Are you all right?" came Jarvis' voice from the ceiling.

Steve remained where he was, unable to move, unable to speak. He blinked morse code for SOS.

"I have alerted Ms Potts and Doctor Banner," JARVIS announced smoothly. "They will be here momentarily to aid you."

Steve blinked his thanks.

A loud clunking noise caused Steve to swerved his eyes to the balcony where Natasha Romanov was crouched in her Black Window gear. Standing slowly, she put away what looked like repelling equipment into a little black bag slung over her shoulder. She creapt forward, stopping short when door smoothly slid open.

"JARVIS?"

"I have recovered, Agent Romanov," JARVIS assured the spy. She entered the room, coming to a dead stop at the sight of Steve.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"Captain Rogers is unable to reply verbally," JARVIS explained helpfully. "He was incapacitated by an unknown."

"How?"

"I am unable to explain due to a virus the intruder uploaded before he arrived. I have eradicated it," Jarvis went on. "Ms Potts and Doctor Banner are on their way."

As if on cue, the elevator dinged opened.

"What is going— Steve!" Pepper exclaimed.

Natasha regarded Steve as if he was an interesting weapon, while Bruce and Pepper were staring at him in horror. Looking down, Steve had ascertained he was held in some sort of metal brace that at certain points was injecting him with whatever was causing his paralysis.

"Can you feel anything, Rogers?" Natasha inquired.

"How did you get in here?" Pepper asked. "I thought you went back to…wherever."

"We lost contact with the tower twenty minutes ago. Due to the nature of current events, I was sent over to make sure everything was fine. I was unable to use the elevator and the security guard said that everything went haywire about ten minutes before we lost contact."

"So, you just climbed on up?" Bruce guessed.

Natasha turned and Bruce shrugged, giving her a sheepish little smile. Natasha turned back to Steve and began tug on whatever contraption was holding him upright.

"Bruce, do you have a laser cutter?"

"Tony does," Pepper injected. "I'll go get it."

"I'll help," Bruce volunteered, following Pepper back into the elevator.

Natasha turned back to Steve, who began blinking to let her know he could do that.

"Blink once for no and twice for yes."

Steve blinked twice.

"Are you hurt?"

One blink.

"Do you remember how this happened?"

One blink.

"Was the man who did this Aldrich Killian?"

Steve did not blink, as there wasn't an option for _I'm Not Sure_.

"Three blinks if you're not sure."

Steve blinked three times.

"Was he blond?"

Two blinks.

Natasha went on asking questions about the man's appearance, all of which Steve answered in the positive.

"Established we're dealing with the Mandarin," Natasha announced as the elevator dinged. It sounded like Pepper and Bruce were lugging something with them. "Is Jessica Witton here?"

One blink.

"She went with Killian?"

Two blinks.

"She what?" Pepper squawked.

Natasha scowled. "Did she go willingly?"

Two blinks.

Natasha pressed her lips together and turned towards where Steve assumed Bruce and Pepper were standing.

"Why wouldn't she fight?" Pepper asked.

A loud whirling noise sounded and Natasha appeared before Steve, orange goggles in place, baring a laser cutter. If he had been able, Steve would have tensed up. He stared straight forward as Natasha set to work cutting the contraption off of him. Once he was free, he fell to a boneless heap on the floor. Within two-seconds of hitting the ground, Steve's skin felt as if it was on fire, his head began to pound, and his bones felt like tiny little nail were being drilled into them. However, through the haze of pain he realized his jaw worked and he managed to pant out, "Loki's…gonna…kill…me."

"Loki? Did he help?" Pepper demanded.

Steve shook his head, looking appalled Pepper would think Loki would incapacitate Steve and kidnap Jess. Well, okay, the insane side of Loki might do that, but not the Loki who'd put himself back together. Steve was sure of it.

"Killian did this," Natasha announced. "Alone."

"I don't know why he was here," Steve admitted. "I don't…I was…one minute I was getting water and then…he was monologuing. I think. Jess showed up, threw fire at him, he absorbed it, she said they should go, and teleported them away."

"Oh no," Bruce moaned. "He's going to jack her up on his drug, isn't he?"

"She told him not to," Steve muttered.

Everyone gave Steve pitting looks. If he could, he'd hit himself over the head. Sometimes he was so naive even he wanted to sock himself in the nose.

"Is there anyway we can track her?" Pepper asked. "With her surge of magic, she must be putting off some sort of energy reading, right?"

Bruce nodded. "Yeah. JARVIS, did you happen to take any scans of Jess while she was out cold?"

"Yes. Many."

"Good. Transfer them to my lab," Bruce said, heading for the elevator.

"Doctor Banner?" Natasha asked.

Bruce paused. "What?"

"You might want to take Steve with you," Natasha said.

"Why?"

"Because he needs a doctor."

"I'm not that type of doctor."

"I'm fine," Steve insisted, through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, and I'm a princess fairy," Natasha drawled.

"I just need a minute. Bruce needs to find Jess."

"Witton will be fine," Natasha insisted. She folded her arms across her chest while the other three stared at her. "Give her some credit."

* * *

_If I go there will be trouble / And if I stay it will be double / So come on and let me know_

_-The Clash, "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?"_

* * *

**_Unbridled Spirit_**

* * *

_Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken / Hell, I'm the living lie for you so you can hide / Don't cry_

_-Evanescence, "Hello"_

* * *

Everything was white. Except for the huge picture window that made up the fourth wall of the box Odin had locked Loki within. There was some furniture: a bed, a table, a wooden chair. Frigga brought him books. Occasionally showed up herself to speak to him. Sometimes, he would stare out the picture window and watch all the various prisoners marching by. Asgard was filling its dungeon to capacity in order to restore order to the Nine Realms.

Loki had created chaos throughout the entire joint without even meaning to.

This should make him a little happy. Or at least a little smug.

It did not.

He didn't care.

Loki was apathetic about everything. Thor (who had some point had done research on Midgardian metal illnesses) had suggested quite a few times (to anyone) Loki was suffering from depression and needed aid.

Having suffered from depression, Loki knew he wasn't depressed. He was apathetic. There was a difference. He didn't bother to tell Thor this, as Loki couldn't be bothered to actually speak to the oaf. Thor spent quite a bit of time (when he wasn't off bashing delinquents in the head) playing therapist. He'd even taken to bringing books (since when did Thor read?) with him each visit and trying to diagnose Loki.

So far, Thor had concluded Loki was suffering from depression, with a side of mild anxiety. He also had some sort of personality disorder, but Loki had stopped listening after the anxiety diagnosis. Jess suffered from anxiety, Loki did not.

Loki was apathetic.

He didn't care about anything. He didn't bathe, he didn't brush he teeth, he hadn't cut his hair in forever, and he didn't really care about eating. Mostly he slouched against one of the white walls and stared at the opposite one.

"This is quite pathetic."

Loki blinked several times as someone materialized right before his eyes inside his prison. He cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes a little to study the being. She was strange looking. One half of her was a stunningly beautiful woman with shiny, slightly wavy, raven hair and a green eye similar in color to what Loki would find if be bothered to look in a mirror. The skin on this side was creamy, pale, and perfect.

The other half of the woman, though, was out of a nightmare. She looked like one of those makeup characters on many Midgardian TV shows where the undead were featured. She had rotting skin, a missing eyeball, and patchy hair. It really looked like half of her was dead.

And yet, the longer he looked at her, the less alarmed he found himself.

She was just a person.

"You are not alarmed by my appearance," she stated flatly.

"You look like one of those zombies on television. Only you lack the foaming mouth or blood," Loki replied flatly. He cocked his head to the other side. "I should have read more comics, then I might know who you resemble."

The being shifted, floating above the white floor of the cage as she came closer.

"I am a comic book character in some realities," she allowed, her voice deep and melodious. "I thought it best to appear to you as my true self, as I fear you will have trouble with what I divest this morn."

Loki blankly stared.

The being waved her hand and a basic wood chair appeared. She sat down, carefully arranging her black silk skirts. Upon getting the arrangement of her liking, she tucked some of the stringy black hair behind her rotting ear and stared him down with her one good eye.

"Jessica is in trouble," the being stated.

Loki knitted his brows together. "And you care because?"

"She is my daughter."

Loki sat up straight for the first time since he'd entered the white box. "Pardon? Your daughter? You are the mother who abandoned her?"

Loki glared at the horrifying being through new eyes. On one hand, he could not believe his best friend, his first real friend ever, was related to the thing before him. However, the more he glared, the more he was able to see Jess in her beautiful side.

"I had to take my leave," the thing explained indifferently. "I am Hel, or Hela in some myths. It depends upon the translation, but I go by Hel. I am from yet another dimension. One where I am Loki and Angrboda's child. One of three they begot."

"Pardon?"

"In this reality, you are childless. In this reality, you did not even know your true origins until shortly before you fell from the Rainbow Bridge."

"How do you know this?" Loki hissed, feeling something stir in his chest.

"I gathered information," Hel simply said. "Do you remember a man named Thomas Hiddleston?"

Loki felt as if he was getting whip lash from the conversation.

"What does he have to do with anything?"

"If he were to have children, would you claim them as your own?"

"No," Loki spat. "I am not Hiddleston."

"Good. Then, you understand that you are not my father."

"Of course!" Loki exclaimed.

"My father has had many children and all their fates…Asgard was not kind to any of us. I was banished to Niflheim."

"You're the Queen."

The being nodded. "In this reality, you know there is a queen there, yet no one has met her, yes?"

Loki nodded. "She rules the dead. She had no use for the living."

"Ah, if that were only true of me," the being mused without humor. "I am a being cursed by death and yet I long to be with the living. Due to this need, I learned to transverse through realities."

"You— that's impossible!"

"It is not impossible, just difficult," Hel flatly told him. "All you need to know is I stumbled upon the Midgard you met Jessica upon. "

"How…"

"Once there, I was unable to leave right away. Time between realities passes differently, as you know. I had been there for three years before I made the mistake of falling in love."

Loki frowned, but gestured for her to go on.

"A being such as myself, one of death, should never love. I remained, though, in my mortal form and carried two children. I watched the eldest grow older and became worried. Jonathan's magic manifested in a peculiar manner. And in a world without magic, I was worried what would become of him, yet his life line was short, so I simply made sure that he was extraordinary good at whatever he put him mind to."

"He was…magical?"

Hel nodded. "Jonathan was extraordinary good at sports."

"He was? His magic made him extremely good at sports?"

Hel nodded.

"And Jessica?"

"Jessica's magic manifested as most people's do: she floated objects all over the place."

Loki frowned.

"I tried multiple times to channel her magic, but failed each time. I had to fully block it, cutting her off from it completely. She lost all the skills she had had gained."

Loki cocked his head to the side. "Until I touched her with the Tesseract."

Hel nodded. "I did not leave till Jessica was eight. She claims I left earlier, but that is not so. She simply forgot the years I was there when I sealed her magic."

"She forgot all about you," Loki breathed.

Hel nodded, her beautiful side showing her sadness.

"Why did you seal her magic?"

"She lived upon a world without magic. She also has a very long lifeline. Too long to remain on that planet alone."

"You could have taken her with you," Loki pointed out.

"She is a mortal with a long life line and magic. Mortal bodies are not able to contain magic," Hel quietly reminded Loki. "When magical beings mate with mortals, the offspring do not contain magic. If they do, it eats them alive."

"That's part of why Jonathan died so young, correct?"

Hel nodded. "He burned himself out. But, his natural life line was short. I saw no need to seal his magic and prevent him from being able to channel it in a constructive manner."

"Jessica has a long life line that would have been cut short if…if you'd let her magic run while."

"Correct. So, in order for her to live, I allowed her to forget me. And I went in search of a companion for her to grow old with."

Loki snorted.

"I found you."

Loki snapped to attention.

"Jessica was a fully grown woman when I arrived."

"Time moves differently between realities. In my own, I have only been absent for three hours. On Earth, years have passed."

"Sixteen years," Loki breathed.

"Seventeen. She's a year older than when you first met her," Hel reminded Loki.

He swallowed thickly.

"I have no plans to return, as I found what I went looking for," Hel went on, sounding a bit breezy.

"Me," Loki guessed.

Hel extended her head. "Bit and pieces of you, yes. I came across you within the Void as I made my way across realities in search of a companion for my Jessica to be with her as she aged slower than the others around her."

"You found me," Loki said. "In bits and pieces?"

Hel nodded. "The Void shattered you into millions of pieces. In the Void, creatures are often broken down to the bare basics of who and what they are. Your anger, madness, rage, pain, and self-loathing expelled everything you saw as weakness and left it scattered behind you in the void. That is what I found."

"What did you do?"

"I gathered up the pieces left behind. I could tell by the feel of the magic you were a version of Loki. And, a version of Loki was perfect for my Jessica. I knew fate, the Powers that Be, or whatever you wish to call it had led me to this spot to witness your…"

"Break down," Loki offered.

"If you say so."

"So, you're the reason I was a cat upon arrival on Earth?"

"I put you together the best I could with what you'd left behind. You'd left some of your magic behind, but not enough to create a new body. A kitten was the best I could do. I had hoped you'd recover enough once you'd arrive to take on your human form."

"On a world without magic?"

"I recovered. I had to hope you would as well."

Loki nodded. "It took months."

Hel nodded.

"You fashioned my armor. The pile of clothing Jessica found me within, did you not?" Loki asked.

Hel nodded. "I only caught a glimpse of what the other was wearing, but I was sure it was correct. Was it?"

"Yes. Only, it failed to retain the magic I usually imbue it with to call it to me. The first time I called it, it was drained."

"That was because it was made with my magic, not your own."

"Why are you here?"

"I am still on my way home. Two minutes ago, I put you together in the void. A minute ago, I came across Midgard, the one of this reality, and found Steven Rogers incapacitated by something that scorches his very bones and Jessica offering herself to a man who burns with fire in his veins."

Loki's heart twisted and something solid and uncomfortable settled at the bottom of his stomach.

"Jessica's magic is also fully awaken. I worry for her mind."

"Her mind…" Loki trailed off, realizing the ramifications. "Oh no."

"Indeed," Hel agreed. "Her magic is out of control and is slowly eating her mind. She will soon be out of control and Jessica will comburere."

It took Loki a minute to figure out what Hel meant. When he did, he leapt to his feet.

"She will not! You cannot let her burn up from the inside out!"

"She will unless she is stopped."

"Then stop it!"

Hel pressed her lips together (which just looked wrong due to the dead side of her face). "I've interfered enough. She will never trust me, nor believe me. You have a bond with her. You formed it when she found you as a cat and aided you in finding yourself once more." Hel looked disgusted suddenly, which was downright alarming. "You are apathetic. You sit here within your white prison and stare at a wall feeling nothing. You have given up on living. Why? You have people who care and love you out there! You left Jessica when she needed you the most! And the blonde man! What about him?"

Loki clenched his fist and gritted his teeth together, but refused to take the bait.

"What makes you think—"

"He draws you. And I know the human condition. It applies to all beings be they human or not. While I cannot claim to know you, as one who lost the greatest love of her life due to her own condition, I encourage you not to loose yours. You have no reason. You are not a creature of death."

"And why must you be?"

"I was cursed to be one for the sins of my father," Hel said without emotion. She suddenly stood and closed the space between herself and Loki. "You will go to Earth and put things correct, Loki Laufey-Odinson. Take care of the people who love you and you love in return. Do not toss them out simply because you feel like you do not deserve their love."

Loki felt a swirl of emotions, more than he'd felt since he'd entered the box. He was bombarded with so much, he had no clue what to do.

"Steven Rogers is burning from the inside out," Hel quietly said. "Whatever the humans did to him to make him what he is today is fighting against it, but it is a loosing battle. He needs you. And Jessica will need your aid as well. You must seal her magic."

"She will forget me," Loki said, his tone pitiful.

Hel grabbed Loki by the shoulders, shaking him. "Then make her remember!"

"You didn't!"

"I just left! I no longer know her. And I cannot as I need to return to my own reality and rule the dead!"

The beautiful side of Hel's face suddenly looked very ugly.

Loki swallowed thickly. "Jessica was the first person to accept me for who I am and not who she wished me to be."

"I know. She is her father's daughter. He accepted me for what I was. He understood why I had to leave. Did he speak ill of me to Jessica?"

Loki shook his head. "No. He had passed by the time I met her, but she did not have much to say about you in general other than you'd left."

Hel nodded, letting go of Loki. She smoothed out his tunic.

"The Iron Man is wallowing in his own personal pain and inability to deal with the almost death he faced when he flew into the void of space. Agent Barton, Doctor Banner, and Agent Romanov are all flourishing. Agent Barton has formed a close friendship with Jessica in your absence. They together worry about your Steven. Agent Coulson is well, yet he is up to something. Director Fury is, well, currently furious," Hel quipped. "He is currently shouting from a rooftop."

Loki opened his mouth to ask why she dumped all this information on him, but she put one of her dead fingers to his lips and hushed him.

"Jessica will never belong to the reality she was born. You know that. She felt like she didn't belong there. The Fates, the Powers that Be, the master of the entire universe, or whatever decided she belongs in this reality. Just as they decided you belong here whole."

Loki fisted his hands in his soft black trousers, but nodded.

"I expect you to pull yourself together and save Jessica. She is yours now. You must take care of her."

Before his eyes, Hel dematerialized. The only sign she had been there was the extra wooden chair in the cell and the wrinkles in his tunic from where she'd gripped him.

* * *

_Looks like I'm gonna do everything myself / Maybe I could use some help, but hell / If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself_

_-Limp Bizkit, "Boiler"_

* * *

"Sir."

"What?"

"We haven't heard from Barton since he broke cover and the Secret Service have upped the protection of the VP. We can't get to him."

"Tell me you are pulling my leg."

"No, sir. Eagle One is also MIA."

"How can he be gone? He was supposed to be in a secret under ground bunker!?"

"Sir, he's not there. Eagle Two was found. Dead."

Nick Fury cursed. Loudly. And rather colorfully.

"What are we doing about this?"

"Trying to get a hold of either Hawkeye or Iron Man."

Nick cursed again.

"Where's Witton."

Silence.

"Coulson. Where. Is. Witton."

"She went with Killian. He gave Stark Tower a virus, incapacitated Captain America with some sort of metalloid brace that injected something unknown, and took off without a trace with Witton."

"Romanov report in?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

"The computer virus has been wiped from the computer systems of Stark Tower, the AI is fine, and according to Doctor Banner Captain America will recover once the drug is out of his system. We've sent the blood work to the HUB for our…new associate to go over."

"Good. How's he doing?"

"Captain America is…down."

Nick groaned. He slammed the phone down and cursed a blue streak. Taking a calming breath, he put the phone back to his ear and calmly said, "Coulson, this is a level six."

"Yes, sir."

"Tell Romanov to suit up and get her butt to…somewhere."

"I will tell her that."

"Barton. Tell her to find Barton."

"I will, sir."

"Did Stark happen to figure out how to contact Asgard?"

"No. Witton suggested that simply screaming at the sky would let them know they are needed. Someone named Heimdall will hear you."

Nick slammed the phone down onto his desk, cursing loudly. Several people passing his office hurried to get as far away from his as possible.

He didn't blame them.

Knowing he didn't want spectators for his audience with this Heimdall person (whoever the hell he was), Nick headed for the roof of headquarters. Lots of people stood on the roofs of tall buildings in New York City and screamed at the sky. He'd fit right in.

* * *

_It's not confidential / I've got potential / A rushin', a rushin' around_

_-The Killers, "Somebody Told Me"_

* * *

Loki pressed his palms to the force field, waiting for someone to come down to the dungeon. Since he'd been locked up, there always seemed to be someone, be it his mother, brother, father, or once even Fandral, but someone always appeared to try to get him to show emotion or do something (brushing his hair seemed to be popular request). The past six months they'd all been annoying gnats, yet now that he wanted out they were nowhere.

Finally, after what felt like days to Loki, Thor's thundering footsteps sounded on the stone stairs. The knot of unease unknotted a little in Loki's chest.

"BROTHER!"

"Yes, Thor?"

Thor faltered for a moment, clearly surprised to find Loki standing and pressing against the force field.

"You are standing," Thor dumbly stated.

"Clearly."

"And you brushed your hair!" Thor said, cheerily. "Are you feeling better?"

No. Loki wasn't feeling better, he just had a mission: get out and save Jessica. And Steven.

"You are here to tell me something, please tell me."

"I think you might already know," Thor wisely observed. "Heimdall has seen many things happening on Midgard. After arriving back from battle, I inquired after Lady Jessica and was told she was in grave danger. Director Fury began to call for Heimdall. The message was for you."

Loki gave Thor an impatient look. "What was it?"

"That it was not his fault the Lady Jessica was taken by some mad man and to get your butt down here and fix things. Well, that was the gist of it," Thor admitted. "Heimdall said his language was a bit more colorful."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Of course. Now, are you going to let me out? I'm not longer crazy. I've brushed my hair. And look, I ate my meal."

Loki waved his hand at the empty food tray behind him.

"And I washed."

Thor shifted, but made no move to either let Loki out himself or to get Odin.

Loki sighed, banging his head against the force field. He ignored the pulse of energy that flickered each time he did this.

"Loki!"

Loki stopped banging his head at the sound of the new voice. More footsteps came clattering down the stairs. Loki knew both pairs by heart: Mother and Father.

"Oh, Loki," Frigga gushed the moment she saw him standing, clean, and tidy.

"Mother," Loki greeted.

Odin moved slowly behind Frigga as she hurried to stand before the cage. Odin was wisely eyeing Loki wearily, looking for signs of foul play. Loki felt confident. He wasn't hiding anything and wished no one ill will (well, except this fire breathing madman he kept hearing about).

"You've returned," Mother gushed, reaching forward to press her hand to the force field. It flickered with energy like it did when Loki pressed against it, but it likely didn't hurt her. (It only stung Loki a little. He'd gotten used to it.)

"You care for something," Odin observed, slowly stepping closer.

"Someone," Loki corrected.

"She is in danger," Odin stated.

"They," Loki corrected. "They are in danger."

Hel's words lingered in his mind about the danger both Steven and Jessica found themselves in. While his worry was more persistent for Jessica, he could not ignore his concern towards Steven.

"How did you discover this?" Odin demanded.

"Hel told me."

Loki's adopted family stared at him as if he had sprouted a few more heads.

"The Queen of Neiflheim, who has never left her realm before, came here to tell you your friends are in danger?" Odin demanded, tightening his grip on Gungnir.

"No. This was a Hel from another reality," Loki quickly explained. "This one has a case of wanderlust."

Odin sniffed in distaste. "There is a matter at hand we must deal with and we have little time."

Loki quickly nodded.

"You have been locked within this cell for the past six months and have shown no remorse for your actions, yet no joy either. Why should you be seen fit to leave?"

"I'll return once I am sure Jessica and Steven are no longer in danger."

"I could send Thor."

"How?" Loki asked. "The Tesseract is still being used to aid in the repairs to the Bifrost."

"The Bifrost can send Thor."

"It is not complete enough to send Thor to Midgard," Loki said.

"And how do you know this?"

Thor stared at his feet before looking at Odin. "I might have been telling Loki about the repairs."

Odin gave Thor a dark look before turning back to Loki. "The Bifrost is almost complete enough to send Thor to Midgard."

"It will be too late."

"How will I know you will return once I let you out? You might remain on Midgard."

"I will take Thor with me," Loki offered. "And I will return even if I do not have Thor with me."

"Can you take him with you along the pathways you secretly travel?"

"Of course," Loki assured.

Mother heaved a great sigh. "Are you sure Loki?"

Loki turned and met his Mother's eye. He knew she wished for him to be free, for him to be free of many things: the cage, his demons, Asgard…but, Loki also knew he had to return.

"Yes."

"Will you bring her to Asgard?" his mother asked quietly, full knowing in her eyes.

"You will bring her to me," Odin suddenly said, making everyone stare at him. "Her magic must be sealed. She is mortal."

Loki stared at Odin completely overwhelmed. He nodded.

"Midgard is in danger!" Thor bellowed. "We must act now!"

Odin eyed his eldest son for a moment, sighed, and waved his hand. Loki tumbled forward to the ground, face-planting when no one bothered to catch him. Quickly, Loki got to his feet. Odin stepped closer and tapped Loki's head with the spear. He felt his magic stirring under his skin. It felt so good to feel it once more after six months without it. The first thing he did was make his armor reappear. Looking down, he felt a childish joy at seeing the armor that proclaimed him a Prince of Asgard. He glanced up to see Odin's reaction. He was surprised to see the gleam of pride in Odin's eye.

"Oh, Loki," Frigga sighed, pressing her hands together as she took in the sight Loki made.

"Let us go, brother," Thor proclaimed, clapping Loki on the shoulder almost hard enough to knock him over.

"Return," Odin ordered gravely.

"I will," Loki easily promised.

* * *

_You and I go hard at each other like we're going to war / You and I go rough, we keep throwing things and slamming the door_

_-Maroon 5, "One More Night"_

* * *

"Where do you think he is?"

"I don't know. Dead?"

"He's not dead."

"In a cellar. Bad guys like the dark."

"So do you."

"Only when I'm hung over. And that hardly happens any more."

"Tony, you're hiding under a table."

"I am not."

"Yeah. You are."

"I am not."

"You are under a table. In the dark."

"On a yacht!"

"So?"

"STARK!" Barton shouted from somewhere above their heads. "I NEED A HEADING!"

"HE'S STILL UNDER THE TABLE!" Rhodey shouted back.

"I AM NOT!"

"Yeah, you are."

Tony cursed, crawling out from under the table. On the flat screen in the lounge, there was footage of the Mandarin playing on loop.

"I have the President of the United States held hostage! Behold!"

Tony really wanted to go back under the table, but knew now was not the time. He had to figure out which oil rig Killian was going to stage his big, great reveal. He was clearly based somewhere else at the moment due to the fact the Mandarin was clearly not the guy who'd been living it up in Houston.

How many fake Mandarins did Killian have on hand?

"Oh, look, Tony. The Avengers are assembling," Rhodey said, holding onto Tony's stolen StarkPhone. "They're wondering if—"

Something thumped on the deck above their heads and the boat swerved.

"AHHHH!" Tony shouted, heading back under the table.

Rhodey sighed as he sat down heavily in one of the leather club chairs.

"BARTON!" Rhodey bellowed. "WHAT WAS THAT? YOU MADE TONY HAVE ANOTHER PANIC ATTACK!"

"You would fail at being a spy," came a female voice.

"Natalie!" Tony cried.

Natasha gave Tony an evil look.

"So, I found you," Natasha stated flatly. "Or I guess, I found Barton, who happened to have you. We're assembling."

"I heard."

"Where?" Rhodey asked.

"Stark, why are you under the table?"

"I dropped something."

"He's having a panic attack," Rhodey helpfully explained.

"I am not!"

"He is. I'm not sure if it is due to flying into the portal, Loki throwing him out a window, or the fact he keeps forgetting to eat."

"LOKI THREW ME OUT A WINDOW! IT WAS HIGH! I COULD HAVE DIED!" Tony shouted.

"But, you're still here," Rhodey reminded Tony. "If memory serves me right, he threw Thor out the window twice and Thor's not hiding under any tables."

"I don't see Thor here period."

"MAN OF IRON!"

The boat shook again.

Above deck, Barton swore loudly over the noise of thunder that followed Thor.

"HAWKEYE! GOOD TO SEE YOU!" Thor boomed.

"Tone it down Thor!" Clint shouted. "We're trying to sneak somewhere."

"And I know where! Do you have Iron Man and Iron Patriot with you, by chance?"

"Yeah. I've also got Black Widow."

"WONDERFUL!" Thor cheered.

And likely clapped Clint hard enough on the shoulder to knock him over.

"Speak of him and he shall appear," Rhodey faintly muttered as Thor pounded down the stairs and peered around the lounge.

"What is this small vessel?" he asked. "Loki indicated you were on a mighty boat."

"It is a mighty boat," Tony said, scrambling out from under the table. "It's a million dollar yacht I stole!"

"Lady Natasha, good to see you once more," Thor greeted, nodding his head at her. He turned his attention to Rhodey. "I take it you are the Iron Patriot."

"Yeah, that's me," Rhodey said, sticking his hand out.

Thor shook his whole arm.

"Are you abreast of the current situation?" Thor asked, eyes landing on the TV broadcasting the situation for the whole world.

"Yeah. We've got cable," Tony snarked. "Wait, did you say Loki told you where we were? GQ's back?"

"Yes. Loki brought us here on the secret pathways as the Bifrost is yet completed," Thor explained. "Why were you under the table?"

"I was having a panic attack! Just leave me the hell alone!"

Thor frowned, but took a few steps back.

"Anyway, how'd Dancer get out of jail?" Tony asked, searching around for his screw driver. He wasn't just sitting under the table doing nothing. He was fixing his suit.

"He was visited by the Queen of Nieflhiem from another reality," Thor reported. "He was very…animated once she told him the danger Jessica and Captain Rogers found themselves in."

"What happened to Witton?" Clint demanded, appearing behind Thor.

"She went with the fire man," Thor reported.

"In order to save Steve," Natasha said, locking eyes with Barton.

"What's up with Steve?" Tony asked, slowly crawling out from under the table. He stayed sitting on the ground. It felt better.

"Captain Rogers was attacked within the tower you reside. Everyone is all right," Thor assured before Tony could ask. "Only Captain Rogers and the voice in the ceiling were harmed. The voice has fully recovered and Captain Rogers will recover shortly."

"Oh. Good."

"Loki and Doctor Banner are currently working on a cure for the fire virus," Thor announced. "Loki fears what will happen to Lady Jessica if the Fire Man injects her with his virus as he did with Captain Rogers."

"He injected Steve with that thing?!" Tony squawked.

"A version of it," Natasha corrected, pocketing her phone. "The labs came back. Hanson said it wasn't Extermis, but something else. Made to harm Captain America."

"Who do you have in AIM other than Barton?" Tony asked.

"No one. Hanson was at your house when it blew up."

"Oh. Her," Tony said, nodding even though he didn't really remember.

"Loki has tracked Lady Jessica to a man-made isle near here. I have given directions to Barton."

At the sound of his name, Barton stomped back up to the main deck.

"How long?" Natasha asked, pulling knives out of various places Tony was sure they shouldn't be.

"Ten minutes," Thor replied, worriedly glancing up the stairs. "You were very near."

"We're good at guess work," Tony said. "I got work to do."

He went back under the table. And he was not under it because he was having a panic attack. He just liked it under there. It was cozy.

* * *

_Give me a song and I'll sing it like I mean it / Give me the words and I'll say them like I mean it_

_-The Feeling, "Sewn"_

* * *

"I am so sorry."

"Steven, if you apologize one more time, I will punch you in the mouth," Loki said in a dangerously low voice dripping with anger.

Steve gulped.

"But, I—"

Loki turned to face Steve, narrowing his eyes. (Those brilliant Amazon jade— no, British verdigris eyes Steve itched to paint.)

Steve was thrilled when Loki randomly appeared in Stark Tower, standing in the place Tony had marked out where the Loki in the movie world had been Hulk smashed into the floor. Then, Steve feared for his life when he noted the stormy expression on the God of Mischief's face.

Loki knew Steve had failed to keep Jess safe.

So, Steve had begun to apologize, trying to talk around the pounding in his head and his non working limbs. (They worked, just not the way they were supposed to. His movements were jerky. And painful.)

"Steven. Please stop moving," Loki ordered, leveling Steve a steely look. "I must concentrate if I am going to remove this vile substance from your system."

"I thought it had to leave naturally," Steve dumbly said.

Loki gave Steve an annoyed glare. Steve gulped but stopped trying to follow Loki around Bruce's lab. Bruce had told Steve he wasn't going to die (hopefully). Mostly because he showed no sign of turning into an exploding burning man. Bruce had given Steve something that dulled the pain so he could think and move again (like a marionette puppet, but moving), which Steve was thankful for. Bruce figured they'd have to wait for the unknown substance to leave naturally. Then Loki had shown up and Steve had been forgotten about— or so he thought. Steve had thought Loki was working on finding Jess and coming up with a cure for Extermis (the fire exploding thing).

"Got it," Bruce called from the other end of the lab. "That was the sequence I needed. I sent the information to the phone we gave Thor."

"Excellent," Loki said, sounding distracted as he waved his hands over whatever was in the petri dish he'd been handed by Bruce the minute they'd entered the lab.

Bruce looked up and noticed what Loki was doing. He glanced at Steve before looking back at Loki.

"Have you figured it out yet?"

"Yes, Bruce, I believe…" Loki trailed off as he snapped his fingers and a clear vial appeared in his hand. He put whatever was in the petri dish in the vial and handed it to Steve. "Swallow."

Steve followed that direction without question. As soon as he'd swallowed, the pain slowly faded. He moved his arm a little and was pleased to see it moved a lot more smoothly than it'd been moving a moment before.

"Wow," Steve breathed, looking at Loki with awe in his eyes.

"Excellent," Loki said, turning his attention away from Steve and to a screen that had popped up out of nowhere. He quickly hurried across the lab, grabbing various things before going to yet another corner and dumping things into a jar. Bruce seemed to know what Loki was trying to do, so he followed him speaking in science. Steve, having no idea what to do, sat down on the couch in the lab and watched.

He liked watching Loki move. Loki had a grace about him that Steve had never witnessed in another. It was impossible to look away from Loki when he seemed to dance when all he was doing was moving around the lab with a manic air.

Manic, yet still more graceful than Steve on a good day.

"Rogers! Take a picture, it'll last longer!"

Steve jerked, trying to figure out where Tony's voice had come from.

Tony laughed, his voice filling the entire lab. Bruce sighed and gave Steve a pitying look.

"He can see you, but we can't see him till I call up the video feed," Bruce explained. He went over to a table and flicked something. Tony's face appeared.

"Hi! Miss me?"

"No," Bruce lied badly. "How are you?"

"Together."

"Suffering from the effects of starvation," Natasha said in the background.

"And being thrown out a window six months ago," said another voice Steve couldn't place.

"I'm totally throwing you out that window as soon as I replace it. Again," Tony threatened, pointing at the person.

"Can you get to the point?" Loki snapped.

"Oh. We're here. I just wanna know when you're getting here and if Captain America is in commission," Tony said.

Bruce picked up something and lobbed it at Steve. Steve managed to catch it with fumbling fingers. He looked at the object. It was a camera.

"You will battle worthy soon, Steven. Do not frown," Loki soothed, before turning his attention back to whatever he'd been working on before Tony had called. He went back to manically working, almost loosing his grace in his haste to finish what he had been working on.

"So, Spangles's out. Lokes?"

"Loki, if you do that— just let me finish this. We're almost there," Bruce said, chasing after Loki.

"I don't know how long it took Stark to figure out," Loki said, sounding helpless.

"Figure what out?" Tony asked.

"I know," Bruce said to Loki. "We're almost there. By the time you bring her back, it'll be done. Now, go. I'll finish. I'll look after the half working Captain America and finish this."

Bruce gave Loki a look, which made Loki blush.

"Go," Bruce urged.

Loki swiftly turned and looked at Steve. "I will return."

And in a blink of an eye, Loki was gone.

* * *

_Sometimes I worry that I've lost the plot / My twitching muscles tease my flippant thoughts / I've never really dreamed of heaven much_

_-Bright Eyes, "Easy/Lucky/Free"_

* * *

**_Live Free or Die_**

* * *

_I'll tip my hat to the new constitution / Take a bow for the new revolution / Smile and grin at the change all around_

_-The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"_

* * *

Tony ducked quickly back behind the crate as gun shots rang out over their heads. Rhodey rolled his eyes. Thor was a combination of determined and confused at the lack of running in guns a blazing.

"Lighting. Bad idea. This place is a fire cracker," Tony explained, slightly breathless.

The look that Thor gave him clearly stated, "SPEAK ENGLISH."

Or whatever Thor actually spoke when he was at home.

"Plus, who knows if you'll make the Fire Minion Army explode," Tony went on.

"So, what's the plan," Rhondey asked.

Tony ran off.

Rhodey sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as the gunshots began again.

"Was that the plan?" Thor inquired. "It is not a very well thought out plan." He looked thoughtful. "Though, in my youth, I would have done the same."

Rhodey scratched his temple, wondering how this was his life. "Youth. Yeah. Okay. We'll make our own plan. Forget Tony. Object: Get the President. He's the guy hanging in the air like a sacrificial lamb."

Thor nodded, serious expression painting his features.

"No lighting," Thor repeated.

"No lighting. We don't need to set him on fire."

Thor nodded.

Something crashed in the distance, followed by angry shooting, explosions, and more gunfire. Whatever Tony was doing was making the bad guys mad.

"Okay, you can fly, right?" Rhodey asked and Thor nodded. "Okay, can that hammer break anything?"

"Almost anything. I have no fear they will break the bonds tethering the President in place."

"Okay. Good. Fly on up and set him free. Swing him so he'll hit there," Rhodey pointed, "And I'll catch him."

Thor nodded in the affirmative before shooting off like a red and silver bullet towards the howling President. Rhodey watched the scene dumbly (as did a few Fire Minions) for a second. The President squawked when he saw Thor. Rhodey scrambled to his feet and shot a few Fire Minions out of his way when they got over seeing the Norse God of Thunder flying through the air via a hammer and noticed Rhodey.

"IT WILL BE OKAY, SIR! HE'S ON OUR SIDE! WE'VE GOT YOU!" Rhodey shouted as he reached the upper deck. Thor was busy whacking at the wires with his super hammer (he seemed impervious to the Fire Minions fire and bullets) while the President shouted something about drapes, mad men, and wanting a raise. Thor broke through the first wire as someone screamed bloody murder below. The sound tore through Rhodey, making him shudder at the thought of what had drawn that kind of noise out of a human being.

"JESS!" Tony shouted, flying out of nowhere (sans an Iron Man suit) and landing beyond Rhodey's view.

"TONY!" Rhodey hollered, leaning over the railing.

"Iron Patriot!" Thor roared.

Rhodey looked up just in time to get a face full of President.

* * *

_Face it and fight or turn tail and run / 'Till it comes back again just like the rising sun_

_-Megadeath, "Have Cool, Will Travel"_

* * *

"Did you call your army of suits?" Natasha's cool voice sounded in Tony's ear as he scrambled along the rigging to where Jess was located.

"Yes."

"Good. We're going to need all the help we can get."

There were Fire Minions everywhere. Tony needed a suit ten minutes ago, but none of his army had shown up. Not even the stupid one he had on the yacht with him (he really didn't want to know where that suit had gotten off to without him. He really had to look into this whole suit army system when he wasn't being targeted for some tacky revenge thing).

Jess screamed again, but it was different sort of scream. It was not pain filled, but filled with anger and rage. A loud explosion rang out and the ground fell out under Tony's feet. He scrambled for purchase as the Fire Minion who was after him fell backwards.

"Loki there yet?" Banner's quiet voice asked over the com. "He left shortly after you called."

"That was like…a lot of minutes ago! Where is he?" Tony demanded, ducking another fiery punch that had come out of nowhere.

Tony hated these fire idiots. He was so over them.

"JARVIS!" Tony shouted.

"Sir, we are here."

The sentence came in surround sound.

Oh, happy day.

"I WARNED YOU, MANDEGO!" Jess screamed, her voice echoing all over the place.

Tony ducked another fire punch and darted out of the fight, heading for a suit JARVIS kindly opened for him. He jumped backwards off the broken bridge, waving at the fiery eyed woman as the suit closed around him.

Yay! No more burns!

"Been great, but I gotta go," Tony said to the infuriated woman, shooting downwards towards where JARVIS was telling him there was a strong magic reading.

Stronger than anything they'd seen before.

Stronger than Loki.

Tony's stomach dropped out.

He rushed downwards, using his head to break through the walls of the oil rig in order to get to the interior room where the readings were coming from. He found the room easily, as the walls has all been blown out and Jess was…glowing. Killian stared at her as if she was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

Tony, not insane, knew two mentally unbalanced people when he saw them.

"You are a thing of beauty. Just embrace Extermis, darling," Killian encouraged.

"Don't. Call. Me. That," Jess ground out, shooting green fire out of her hands.

Hmmm. Everyone else had the orange stuff and Jess was green.

She also had no control over it. It flew everywhere.

Killian dodged the fire easily, a look of pure glee on his face. Jess's face suddenly morphed into a familiar expression— one Tony had witnessed a few times on Reindeer Games in the heat of battle during his major crazy bag of cats moments.

"KILLIAN!" Tony bellowed making his presence known

"I think we ought to try flying," Killian suggested, launching himself at Jess, sending them both out a window.

"JESS!" Tony roared, taking off out of the hole, only to be knocked off course by one of the Fire Minions.

* * *

_I wish there was a way / To give you a hand to hold / Cause you don't have to die in your glory / To die to never grow old_

_-Mika, "Heros"_

* * *

Loki walked into the mists of a fiery battle. There were orange humans flying everywhere, locked in battles with various Iron Man suits. Loki's eyes darted around trying to find Jessica within the mess since he could not sense her magic. He could not sense anything other than chaos. He ought to have been able to sense another magical being, as another magical being had blocked him from directly entering the oil rig via teleportation. He'd wound up on the shore and had to enter the oil rig on foot (never did he swim so fast in his life).

"I AM FIRE! I AM DEATH!"

The voice shot through Loki. He jerked his head around. Jess riding on top of one of the flying Iron Man suits, followed by another man.

Killian.

Jessica went in for a nose dive as Killian jumped off the suit he was on, landing on her back. They both tumbled off the suit and fell through the air till they vanished in a swirl of greenish light.

Where had they gone? Loki's eyes darted all over.

"LOKI! WATCH OUT!" Stark shouted, grabbing Loki under the arms.

Loki's feet left the ground. Stark was deaf to his shouts to be put down. A fiery human catapulted through the air, landing on top of Stark. Loki twisted and teleported out of Stark's grip while he was distracted. (Inside the barrier his magic worked fine.)

Loki reappeared five feet from Jessica and Killian battling one another with metal poles. Jess used the pole to aid in her fighting, spinning around and kicking Killian in the face as if she did this sort of thing all the time.

It was surreal to watch, as Jessica was not coordinated enough to do that. However, what Hel had told Loki rang in his mind: Jessica could do these things while her magic ran wild because she'd learned them as a child. Sense memory had taken over.

Loki watched her battle in awe. Between her out of control magic and the virus Killian had given her, she was fiery rage personified. Her eyes were burnt orange, her hair bright tangerine and flying all over the place. Magic was sparking all over her body, making her glow a golden green. She was shouting off nonsense with each whack she dealt towards Killian.

Killian was beginning to regret creating the creature in front of him, judging by his expression. He knew this was a battle he could not win. Loki made up his mind to intervene when Killian shouted, "I AM NOT GOING TO LET YOU RAIN ON MY PARADE!"

Killian moved so quickly, Loki didn't see the gun being drawn nor hear it shoot. Loki didn't even realize anything was wrong till Jessica's eyes stopped glowing orange and returned to normal. Her mouth opened in a perfect O and her hands went to her bare stomach (why was she only sporting a covering over her chest? Where was her shirt?). When she removed her hands, they were covered in blood. The life dimmed in her eyes as she looked up. She swayed a little and fell backwards over the railing as the world around Loki began to explode.

Clint screamed.

Lots of people screamed.

Loki might have been one of them.

* * *

_We all have a dark side, to say the least / And dealing in death is the nature of the beast / One world, it's a battleground_

_-Pink Floyd, "The Dogs of War"_

* * *

Tony was in the air when it happened. Above all the noise, a single gunshot rang out before everything detonated. Luckily, Tony was in the suit at the time, so the blast sending him backwards didn't injure him too much. A few bruises tops.

"JARVIS, what the hell was—"

More explosions. Tony rocketed sideways and into a metal wall.

"Sir, the explosions contain high readings similar to the energy Mr Laufey-Odinson and Ms Witton emit. Also, Colonel Rhodes has gotten the President to safety, if you care."

"Of course I care. Where are Jess and Lokes?"

"I am unable to locate either in the area, sir," JARVIS replied.

Tony cursed.

"Stark! You got a visual on Loki?" Natasha commanded. She didn't bother to wait for Tony to answer before demanding, "THOR! Where would Loki go to kill someone?"

"What?" Tony asked, a sinking sensation going on in his stomach region. He worked to get himself upright.

"If it was personal—"

Tony cursed, knowing exactly what Thor was going to say.

"He's in Houston," Tony said. "JARVIS, light up the sky. Partly Clean Slate Protocol."

Without waiting for the others to reply, Tony shot off towards the mainland. It felt like forever before he was flying over Houston towards the house. By the time the house came into view, it was engulfed in flames.

And ice.

It was an eerie scene.

Tony flew over the house trying to figure out how to help Loki. He didn't really want to fly into the mansion, as it was collapsing as the fight moved through the house. The only reason the fire wasn't spreading to anything nearby was due to the huge ice ring around the joint, keeping the fire in and everyone else out.

"TONY!" Natasha screamed for what might have been the millionth time.

"I'm here. Sorry. Uh, Loki's burning and freezing the house down."

"I can't find Witton," Clint said over the com, sounding dead.

"I thought…she was dead?" Tony asked, hoping it wasn't true. Jess should have main character protection— that meant no dying.

"She was shot in the stomach. She ought to be here in the wreckage, but she's not. Did you mean to blow up all your Iron Man suits like it was the Fourth of July?"

"Yes. Don't worry. I'm still gonna be Iron Man. Not going to get out of it like Movie Tony."

"Movie Tony blew them up for Pepper. Not just to make a nice light show."

"I wanna start over from scratch. And, Real Pepper would likely like it if I got out of the super hero business."

"Real Pepper wouldn't ask you to do that."

Tony had no words. He was always full of words. He never did not have words.

"Clint," Natasha warned. "Stark, report."

"Still the same. I feel like I ought to help him out," Tony muttered. "Okay. I'm gonna land in the backyard and see what I can do, as from the air, I'm kind of useless unless I just want to watch the place burn to the ground."

"I will come to aid you," Thor rumbled.

"Sure, Point Break. Sure."

Tony aimed himself to the ground. He landed with a thud as Killian flew out a large picture window and into the backyard. (Loki clearly enjoyed throwing people out windows. There was glass all over the place and several Killian shaped holes in the yard.) Killian landed with a thud and rolled a few times, leaving a trail of fire in his wake.

Loki appeared like a frozen, sapphire blue, vengeful angel with ruby eyes. He stepped without care through the broken window frame and took two steps before stopping, suddenly going pink and pale. His now very green (oh, so green) eyes bugged out of his head and his mouth dropped open unattractively. (No one was going to believe Tony when he said Loki could look unattractive.)

"Hey, Mr Killian!" came Jess's voice from behind Tony.

Tony whirled around (well, as fast as he could in the suit) to find Jess. She looked horrible. Her eyes were on fire, her hands were glowing green, and her bare middle was covered in dry blood but had healed flawlessly from the stomach wound. (She'd also gained some killer abs at some point.) The only thing that looked okay (other than her abs) was her hair, which was no longer crackling and dry, but flowing, smooth, and glowing yellow.

Odd. (Did she take a time out to dye her hair from blue to orange to yellow? Or was it magic?)

"Here I am," Jess sang out in a creepy voice, violently slashing her hand through the air.

Killian flew backwards and into the ice wall. The ice cracked a little, but did not break.

"Sir, the temperature—" Jarvis started.

"I know, I know. Kinda hot," Tony interrupted, taking off and landing next to Loki. He grabbed Loki's arm before Loki could launch himself into battle. Loki put up a good struggle till Tony quietly said, "She's gotta do this. Then we'll take her home and help her."

Loki gave up his fight, sweat dripping down his forehead in droves. Tony was sweating to death in his suit from between the fire behind him and in front of him.

"Yo, GQ, can you put the fire out behind us?" Tony asked, hoping to distract Loki as Jess continued to battle Killian.

Loki waved a hand over his shoulder and the entire mansion was encased in ice.

"No," Loki breathed.

"Huh?" Tony asked, tearing his eyes off the ice castle and back to the fight. Jess had some sort of stick. Tony couldn't tell what it was or where she got it, but it flashed in the light of the fire Killian was throwing at her.

"She mustn't use the scepter," Loki cried, his voice breaking. He began to struggle in Tony's grasp. "She can't handle it. She…she…not the…no!"

Loki swayed suddenly, his eyes rolling up into his head. Tony caught the god before he crashed to the ground, alarm shooting through him at the speed of light. Gods did not just pass out.

Jess let out an unearthly bellow, using the Glow Stick of Destiny (Tony now recognized it) to shoot blue-green fire at Killian. Killian doubled over at the same time Loki suddenly came to with a gasp. He jerked around in Tony's arms, then looked up at Tony, meeting his eyes through the mask.

"What's happening?" Tony demanded, searching Loki's sweaty, unusually pale face.

Another screech made Tony glance at the fight to find Killian was on fire. Green fire.

Loki clung to Tony, looking more drained of life by the minute. He worked his throat and mouth as if he was trying to talk, but was unable to make any noise. Tony tore his eyes off Loki to watch the other two.

Killian struggled to get the green fire under control, but Tony could tell Jess was done with him. Magic built up around her, making Tony's hair stand on end. The Glow Stick glowed a bright, bright blue, suddenly going green.

Tony cursed.

Loki choked, making noises like he couldn't breathe.

Tony cursed some more.

"NOBODY IS GONNA RAIN ON **MY** PARADE!" Jess bellowed as she thrust the magical stick through Killian's middle, twisting it while wearing a visceral look on her face. In his arms, Loki jerked as if something was being ripped out of him and his skin bled blue. He lost all control of his limbs and they both crashed to the ground just as Killian exploded into a million pieces.

Tony really wanted to throw up.

"Jessica, no…" Loki breathlessly moaned, blinking his ruby eyes as the rest of him turned even darker blue then he'd been before. Tony felt the change of temperature through the suit.

"Sir, Mr Laufey-Odinson temperature is below freezing," JARVIS helpfully offered.

"Thanks," Tony snarked to JARVIS. "Loki…"

Loki struggled in Tony's arms, but did not have control of his limbs enough to go anywhere.

"JARVIS, help me out. Get us on our feet," Tony said.

As they slowly rose, Tony kept his eyes on Jess. She was panting slightly, holding the Glow Stick in both hands and looking deranged. Her smooth, shiny, violently (now) orange hair was flowing around her majestically and she was covered in dancing green flames as her skin glowed the orange shade that usually signaled an explosion.

Jess didn't explode. She met Loki's eyes and smiled sinisterly.

"Now who is the monster?" Jess asked, laughing in a broken manner before vanishing in a puff of golden green mist.

"No," Loki whispered before passing out again.

He was blue and radiating enough cold to likely change the weather patterns in Texas.

Oh, and Loki weighted a ton for someone so damn skinny.

* * *

_Hear the sounds of the falling rain / Coming down like an Armageddon flame / The same, the ones who died without a name_

_-Green Day, "Holiday"_

* * *

"Sir?"

"What?"

"The VP has been arrested, the President is safe, and Killian is no longer a threat."

"He dead?"

"Yeah."

Nick sighed. "Okay. I'll have someone deal with that."

"There's no body."

"What?"

"Ms Witton blew him into tiny pieces. We've tried to gather the pieces up, but…we're not sure what is what."

Nick's stomach rolled.

"Witton?"

"She's MIA."

"Are you serious?"

"Mr Laufey-Odinson is here."

"Seriously? It worked? And you're just telling me now?"

"Sorry. We were kind of busy. And, well, I wasn't aware till recently. Both Loki and Thor are with the Avengers. They are heading back to New York. Mr Laufey-Odinson is not well."

"What do you mean 'not well?'"

"Mr Stark wasn't clear. He said Loki was in a bad way."

"Why?"

"Mr Stark and Mr Laufey-Odinson were there when Ms Witton dealt with Killian. Mr Stark said he felt something in the air and Mr Laufey-Odinson, well, he turned blue and passed out."

"Loki's blue?"

"Yes. And unconscious."

"Fine. Head over to the tower to debrief them. Then debrief me when you have all the game pieces."

"Yes, sir."

Nick slammed down the phone and kneaded his forehead.

* * *

_He doesn't look like I remember / He just stares off into space / He must've seen some ugly things_

_-Sheryl Crow, "God Bless This Mess"_

* * *

When the plane landed and the others got off, Steve was horrified. Thor's cape was singed on the edges and he was unsteady on his feet. Clint and Natasha looked crispy, for lack of a better description. Tony was in the worst shape. His armor was wrecked and his face spoke of a horrible battle. It was an expression Steve was familiar with.

"Where's Loki?" Steve asked, realizing the trickster hadn't exited the plane with the others.

"Steve," Tony started in a tone Steve did not care for. Steve cut off what Tony planned to say by pushing him out of the way. He ran into the plane with Bruce hot on his heels. Steve came to a halt upon seeing the utterly beautiful, yet blue, being spread out on the floor of the jet. While part of his brain registered there was frost blooming out around the figure, he knelt down right next to Loki, his hand hovering over the cold radiating cheek. Loki was radiating enough cold to make the Arctic appear tropical.

(And yes, Steve still had nightmares about cold, frigid water, but at the moment that was the farthest thing from his mind.)

(His therapist would have a lot to say about that. If he ever told him.)

"Captain Rogers, his skin will burn you!" Thor warned, bracing himself on the hatch.

Ignoring Thor, Steve let his hand fall onto Loki's cheek, feeling the rough, blue skin for the first time. It was gelid, colder than anything Steve had ever felt before, but there was no burn. He heard Thor gasp behind him as Steve continued to touch the skin without pain. He traced the whorls on Loki's face then brushed some of the crispy, raven hair out of the demi-god's face.

"What happened?" Steve asked, not looking away from the battle wrought Loki. He was in worst shape than Tony. This told Steve more than any of the others could tell him, but he asked anyhow.

"Tony?" Bruce prompted, pulling out a scanner. He slowly knelt on the other side of Loki, eyes taking in the blood spattered armor, singed hair, and the charred mess that was Loki's left side.

"Jess…well, Jess kind of…" Tony trailed off, flapping his hands in front of him and unable to finish.

"Lady Jessica finished her enemy," Thor supplied, sounding wearier than he had earlier. "I fear, though…she…"

"Sucked all the magic out of the area," Clint finished, looking uneasy. He jerked his head at Loki. "Why's he blue?"

It was obvious Clint had asked this question a few times already.

"He's naturally blue," Bruce answered, still scanning Loki. He glanced up from the device and searched Tony's face. "Jess sucked all his magic out?"

Tony shrugged.

"Correct, I think," Thor answered, swaying as if he were on a boat. "I must rest."

And rest he did. He crashed to the ground, shaking the entire plane. Several icicles that had formed above Loki came loose. Without thinking, Steve threw himself over Loki's prone form.

Clint and Tony both cursed. Steve sat up. He had been hit by a few of the icicles, but no lasting damage was done to himself or anyone else. Bruce scrambled to his feet and hurried over to Thor.

"Sucked all the magic out," Natasha blankly muttered, looking between the two unconscious demigods. "Does that mean…his hammer has magic, right? That's why he can lift it."

Tony cursed magic.

"Correct," Bruce said, scanning Thor and the hammer attached to his belt. "That might be what shook the plane more so than Thor. I'm not reading the same amount of…magic, for lack of a better term, that was there before."

"Sorry to break this up, but I'm gonna channel Thor soon," Tony announced as the roof door burst open and Pepper came flying out shortly followed by Agent Coulson. Pepper made a beeline for Tony and promptly began to fuss over him. He tried to bat her away and failed miserably. Coulson eyed Thor and Loki, then looked at the rest of the Avengers.

"Mind telling me what exactly happened?" Coulson requested, ambling onto the jet and coming to rest at the lip of the frost line radiating from Loki. "What's with the Jack Frost cosplay?"

"Jess sucked all the magic out of the area, meaning both Loki and Thor have no magic, hence their state of unconsciousness," Bruce succinctly stated.

"And the Ice Age?" Coulson inquired politely. "That's not magic?"

"Uh, no. I think it is his natural defense as a Frost Giant."

Coulson made an impressed face. "And the reason Captain Rogers is the only one not getting frosty?"

Steve frowned, suddenly realizing that Bruce's shoes were encased in frost as he continued to scan Loki. Clint, who was for some reason hanging from the ropes on the ceiling, got covered in frost each time he reached over into the frost zone. Frost crept up Coulson's leg each time he breached the frost line (which seemed to amuse him as he kept doing it).

"I've got a theory," Bruce admitted.

"And?" Coulson and Steve asked at the same time Tony offered, "Bunnies?"

Bruce glanced down at Steve. "He likes you."

"He likes you, too."

Bruce gave Steve a look, but never made a response as Thor groaned loudly. The Asgardian sat up slowly, pressing his hand to his head.

"What is going on?" Thor asked, looking bemused. "Why…"

"You fell over, Point Break," Clint explained, flipping down off the ceiling and landing with a thud, breaking the frost line. It quickly crawled up his legs. Clint hopped away. "Witton sucked all the magic out of the Houston area."

"Ah," Thor said, nodding. He put a large hand to his waist and tested the hammer's weight. "It's a heavy."

"Hence why you went boom," Clint offered.

"Can you lift it to stand?" Natasha asked.

Thor slowly got to his feet. "I doubt I will be able to fight till the magic recovers."

Thor was unsteady. He took a few steps towards Loki, but Clint grabbed him before he could slide on the frost.

"Whoa," Clint warned.

"Loki, is he…"

"Still passed out and frosty," Clint offered.

"I need leather to cover my arms and I will carry him inside," Thor offered, trying to shed Clint's hand.

He was unsuccessful.

"I can do it," Steve said, glancing at Bruce. Bruce put the scanner down and nodded. Steve carefully scooped Loki up into his arms and got to his feet. He could feel the cold radiating through the sleeves of his long sleeve t-shirt, but none of the burning Thor had spoken of. Thor looked amazed, yet remained silent as Steve walked passed carrying his adoptive brother.

* * *

_He left here a-sailing / He was as high as a kite / Feeling kinda sorry, and looking for a fight / Where is our hero tonight?_

_-Willie Nelson, "Hero"_

* * *

Twenty-four hours after the whole Fire Battle and still no sign of Jess. Loki remained out cold and frigid as the Arctic in winter. No one could touch the guy's blue skin without getting frost bite other than Steve. Tony didn't buy Bruce's theory it was do to with Loki's carnal feelings for the super solider and more to do with the fact Steve was The Super Solider. That serum had to be the reason Steve wasn't an icicle.

"I've never seen the skin of a Jotunn not burn," Thor said. "It is their defense. Though, it does make sense they'd be able to control it as not to harm ones they care for."

"But how does he know it's Steve when he's without magic and unconscious?"

Thor gave Tony a look, but shrugged. That looked all kinds of wrong.

"Fine. You feeling better, Point Break?" Tony asked, eyeing the blond demigod, who looked battle weary. Still.

"I recover," Thor promised. "I am more so worried for Loki."

Tony hummed his agreement.

"He must return to Asgard," Thor quietly said, staring a this lap and not meeting Tony's gaze.

Tony sloshed his whiskey around in his glass. "Why?"

"The deal he made with our father to be released," Thor explained. "He agreed to return after Captain Rogers and Lady Jessica were safe. We cannot return, though, until Loki recovers his magic as we did not arrive by the Tesseract and the Biforst is still under repair."

"How'd you get here?"

"By the ways Loki knows between worlds. I cannot travel these ways without Loki."

"Awesome. More magic mumbo jumbo," Tony grumbled. "So, you stuck here till Frosty Smurf wakes?"

Thor frowned but said, "Yes. I am positive Heimdall has informed Father of our delay. I believe I will rest."

Thor got to his feet and ambled slowly off down the hall towards the guest rooms.

"Tony?"

Tony turned to see Bruce coming out the elevator, looking exhausted.

"Yeah?"

"Did you sleep last night?"

"Yeah. Like the dead," Tony lied, turning away from Bruce and facing the fireplace. He watched the flames dance over the fake logs and tried not to remember the way the fire danced last night. He shook the glass in his hand, causing the ice to tumble around. "Know anything new?"

"No," Bruce answered, coming down the stairs and into the living room. "I don't know anything about Frost Giants. Thor only knows tall tales. But, Loki's magic level is recovering. He reads like Thor's hammer on a good day."

Tony snorted. "Stupid hammer."

"The hammer is almost fully recovered."

"When'd you last scan it?"

"Before I came up here. I was going to scan Thor to see if he was still steadily regaining the magic in him."

"Thor dosen't strike me as a magical wizard."

"He's not. I think all Asgardians have some level of…magic. Or whatever the energy is called."

"We've got to think of a better name," Tony agreed.

"Are you really okay?" Bruce questioned, sitting down next to Tony on the couch. "You were kind of a mess before this happened and now you've…"

"Seen someone blown up? Gross, right? Not like in the movies at all. But, he wasn't a very nice man."

Bruce stared at Tony blankly for a long beat.

"I know, I know. Don't speak ill of the dead," Tony drawled, shaking the glass again.

Bruce shook his head, but said nothing.

"So, Steve still reenacting _While You Were Sleeping_?"

Bruce looked confused. "He's still there."

"I am so teasing him for this."

Tony took a gulp of his whiskey, set it on his leg, and went back to blankly staring at the fire in front of him.

"Get some sleep," Bruce ordered gently. "If Loki's magic levels continue to recover at the rate they are, he'll wake up tomorrow. And once he's awake…"

"He'll want to look for Jess," Tony finished.

"You don't want to be too tired to go along," Bruce taunted, leaving Tony in the living room alone.

As cold as it sounded, it was true. Tony did not want to be left behind when they went after Jess. Bruce had mentioned that Loki had said Jess shouldn't have been using her magic as it was tearing her apart. She was likely to go insane soon with the amount of magic she'd been using.

Or she was already insane.

While Loki and Bruce had made a fix for Extermis, Jess had to be taken to Asgard in order to have Odin All-Daddy seal her magic permanently. Part of Tony was pouty over this, as that meant no more magic study, but at the same time he knew it was for the best. He wanted what was best for Jess's mental state. He wasn't a monster.

He also wanted to go along to Asgard. Especially if they'd be going some super secret way that only Loki, Mr Magic himself, could operate.

Tony finished of his whiskey and headed for bed.

He'd down that sleeping pill Pepper insisted on him getting prescribed and sleep so he wouldn't miss the fun later on.

* * *

_They got scared when the lights went low / I'll get you through it nice and slow / When the world's spinning out of control_

_-Gavin Degraw, "Solider"_

* * *

When Jess reappeared, there was no battle, no fight, and no drama. Jess was found passed out in the Museum on Science and Industry in Chicago of all places, the Chitari spear still clutched in her hand. She was discovered by a security officer on his morning rounds on a bright winter morning after the new year. It did not appear as if she was stealing anything, yet no one could figure out why she'd popped up where she had. Loki, who had woken forty-eight hours after having his magic sucked from him, looked through the entire museum but didn't find anything that might have attracted Jess's attention. Loki, who was still weak despite having his magic back, spent most of his search of the expansive building leaning heavily on Steve for support.

Steve didn't mind in the least, but was worried on how long it was taking Loki to recover.

SHEILD took custody of the spear and allowed the Avengers to take Jess back to Stark Tower.

"What happened to her while she was missing?" Steve asked, staring at the strange being on the hospital bed that sat between himself and Loki.

Loki reached out and placed his pale hand on the strangely colored arm that belonged to Jess. She was tan, though it wasn't like any tan Steve was familiar with. She looked like those women on the cover of magazines in the grocer, more orange than brown.

"Extermis reacted with her magic and physically changed her. Her out of control magic messed with her mind. I'm unable to fathom where she might have been during those days she was missing," Loki quietly said, his grip tightening on her. "I should have never left."

Steve agreed— partly for Jess, partly for selfish reasons.

"I must leave again, Steven," Loki said so quietly Steve wasn't sure he'd heard him correctly till he met the god's eyes and saw what was there for seeing. "I apologize."

Steve's mouth tightened and he folded his arms across his chest. "Why?"

"Why I am apologizing or why must I return to Asgard?"

"Return."

"I've not finished my sentence. Odin told me I must return if he was to allow me to come, so I will return once I am able."

"When will that be?"

"Soon. And not only because I promised, but because Jessica needs her magic sealed and Odin offered freely to do it," Loki admitted.

Steve let out a long breath. "Okay. You'll come back, though, right?"

Loki nodded.

"Good. Can I go?"

Loki's head shot up from where he'd been blankly staring at the ground. "You wish to come to Asgard?"

"Well, I'd rather go along to make sure nothing, uh, happens," Steve said, rubbing the back of his neck, wondering how to word his request. "I don't know a lot about Asgard, but…"

"We do things quite differently, yes."

"After he seals her magic, she'll have to likely stay awhile, yeah?"

"Yes."

"Uh, a familiar face would be nice, right?"

Loki smiled. "Yes."

"After he seals her magic, will she return to, uh, go back to how she looked before?" Steve asked, eyeing the overly orange being on the white bed. "I mean, if we can't get it right before you leave. I mean, neutralize Extermis. Will she stop…"

"Being orange? I believe so," Loki said, sounding a little bitter. "Though, does it matter? She still appears as she did, only a different color."

Steve cringed. He'd really put his foot in his mouth there.

"I wasn't worried about her appearance like that. I just…well, I…"

Loki scoffed.

"I like you blue," Steve blurted out, blushing heavily.

Loki stared at Steve as if he had two heads.

"It's a good…color," Steve lamely offered, cheeks going redder as Loki stared at him through those other worldly green eyes.

"You failed to see my eyes."

"What?"

"They are not green, but red," Loki flatly said.

"Oh," Steve said. "What kind of red?"

Loki frowned. "I am not sure. I've never seen my own, only others."

"Well, I bet they are fine. I bet they look like rubies," Steve mused.

"Eh, ruby eyes aren't all that great. I mean, look at Lord Voldemort," Tony's voice sounded from the doorway. He walked across the room to where Loki was seated next to Jess. "So, how's Leelo?"

"The same as before," Loki replied, holding out his hand.

"Hopefully this fix will work," Tony said, handing Loki a syringe.

Loki took it and administered it to Jess. They had tried four times to fix Extermis in Jess's system, but nothing had worked. The three men watched carefully for any change.

Nothing happened.

Tony cursed a blue streak and stomped out of the room. Loki sighed, setting the needle aside. He put his face into his hands and shook. Steve rounded the bed and stood next to Loki, putting a hand on his thin shoulder. Loki leaned into it a little and the shaking soon ceased.

"We'll fix her," Steve promised. "Or maybe, uh, Odin will?"

Loki said nothing but let his hands drop from his face. He reached out and squeezed Jess's hand before turning and facing Steve. Steve's hand dropped from Loki's shoulder, accidentally sliding down his arm. Steve was utterly embarrassed for a moment till Loki grabbed the hand before Steve could take a step backwards.

"He will. Let us find substance," Loki said, weaving his fingers through Steve's and dragging him out of the room.

* * *

_It's a long road we've been walking on / Brother, you know it is, you know it is such a long road we've been walking on_

_-Alexi Murdoch, "Orange Sky"_

* * *

"Brother, are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Friends, the Bifrost is almost complete. When it is, I shall return with news," Thor bellowed.

"Well, Lokes, you better bring her back," Clint ordered, putting his hands in his pockets and wishing they could be inside instead of on top of the tower on a frozen January morning.

"I shall, Clint," Loki promised.

Steve gave Loki a look, which Loki returned with a quirk of his eyebrow and a small smile. He turned around as the air around him shimmered and slashed his hand through the air. With his other hand, he grabbed onto Thor, who was holding an orange Witton in his beefy arms. In an instant, the trio vanished from sight. The Avengers all stood on the roof of Stark Tower staring at the spot where the two gods and Witton (whatever she was now) had been. The wind howled. Clint shivered.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Tony groused.

"I'm going inside," Clint announced.

"How do we feel about this?" Tony asked. "We got left behind again."

"You really wanted to go to Asgard, didn't you?" Banner teased, shaking his head. "Clint's got the right idea. Let's go downstairs and have breakfast. It's out of our hands now."

Tony grumbled, but let Banner lead him to the door. Clint jogged to the door, tearing it open.

It was ten minutes before Clint had a mug of coffee in his hands and was beginning to warm up.

"I don't know why they couldn't do that inside," Clint grumbled.

"Magic mojo requires open space or something," Tony offered, flapping his hand as he filled up his own mug. "I wanted to go. Why couldn't I go?"

Tony pouted.

"I doubt you'd be able to help. Every cure we came up did nothing for Jess," Banner reminded Tony.

"The first one worked on the others Killian jacked up that didn't die when the oil rig exploded," Clint reminded Tony who was pouting even more at being reminded of his failure to cure Jess.

"That counts for something," Natasha offered, speaking for the first time that morning. She glanced around the kitchen they'd all gathered and frowned. "Where's Steve?"

* * *

_But tell me, did you fall for a shooting star / One without a permanent scar_

_-Train, "Drops of Jupiter"_

* * *

"Welcome to Asgard, Steven."

Steve blinked several times, wondering how the hell he'd come to stand in the golden room.

"Uh, did I just travel to another planet?" Steve asked faintly, feeling a bit woozy.

"You did," a familiar voice said. Hands braced Steve and the world stopped moving back and forth.

"I did," Steve affirmed, looking at Loki in confusion. "Why?"

"You wished to come," Loki simply replied. The hands steading Steve moved to his waist and held tight. Loki smiled, then moved to the side, wrapping an arm around Steve's waist and began to maneuver Steve towards a door. "Come along. I will show you your quarters."

"Where's Jess?"

"Thor and my husband have taken care of Lady Jessica," said a soft female voice.

Steve turned his focus from Loki to find a beautiful woman with long, blonde hair in plaits and wearing shimmering golden clothing smiling at him fondly. She closed the door behind her and said, "I am sure once my husband has assessed the damaged and sealed her magic, you will be welcomed to visit with her."

She beamed at the pair of men. Loki stopped walking, allowing the woman to float closer. Steve blinked, feeling wrong footed and stupid. Once she was within reach, she extended her hand, palm down.

"I am Queen Frigga," she introduced, looking at Steve pointedly.

Loki dropped his arm from around Steve's waist and placed a steading hand on Steve's back. Steve took her hand, pressed his lips to it, and bowed.

"Steve Rogers," he said.

"Good morn, Mother."

Steve dropped the woman's hand as she took a step back. Her sparkling blue eyes turned to Loki and she smiled, throwing her arms around Loki. Loki removed his hand from Steve's back and returned her greeting.

Steve just met Loki's mom.

"Remember to return here, darling. You must speak with your father," she reminded Loki as she pulled away, a strange look appearing on her face.

Loki nodded curtly. He turned sharply and stalked off towards the doors, which sprang open magically before Loki reached them. Steve nodded at the queen and bowed again before hurrying after Loki. The world was still oddly tilting, but Steve pushed through the sensation by focusing on Loki's back. It helped a bit, as the surroundings were too much for Steve to take in as he followed Loki through twisting hallways and up some stairs. They arrived before a pair of huge doors. Loki stopped walking, turning to wait for Steve.

"Here are your quarters," Loki announced, opening a door and revealing a rather large room, lit with softer light than the halls they'd been traveling through. "I selected them for you. The light shouldn't be as…glaring as the halls or other rooms you might have had."

Steve nodded, entering the seemingly darker room. Steve's eyes adjusted and he gasped.

"Loki…"

"I know. Lovely," Loki scoffed. "I must return to the throne room. I am sure by now the others have realized you are missing."

Steve felt a jolt of panic.

"They will soon know where you've gone."

"Why?"

"I left a message for Stark," Loki said, turning to leave.

Steve grabbed Loki's arm, hand closing around the delicate wrist that was incased in Asgardian leather. Loki turned to Steve, a closed off expression on his face that told Steve he was hiding something.

"Why did you bring me?" Steve whispered, stepping closer. "You never said I could come, you didn't warn me, you simply grabbed me the same time grabbed Thor."

"I did not grab Thor. My duplicate made it look as if I grabbed him. Thor doesn't need contact with me to step through the doors between realms. You did."

"Why, Loki?"

Loki cocked his head to the side and opened his mouth.

"And not why did you need to grab me to bring me along," Steve clarified. "Why did you bring me?"

"Would it surprise you to hear I wished not to be alone?"

There was so much emotion in that question Steve's heart clenched.

"You're not alone. Your family is here," Steve quietly reminded the demigod.

"True," Loki agreed without any face twitching. Surprisingly. "When Jessica wakes, she will…likely be…quite…angry."

"It is within her right," Steve pointed out.

"You are calming," Loki said, breaking eye contact and staring at Steve's feet.

"You could have warned me, Loki. I would have happily come along and I'd worn something…nicer."

"You look wonderful," Loki said quietly.

"Loki," Steve said warningly. "I would have happily come along if you'd asked."

Loki continued to stare at Steve's feet. Steve lowered his face and tried to catch Loki's eyes. What Steve could see of Loki's face, he looked furious with himself. Steve shut his eyes and shook his head.

"You didn't know how to ask, did you?"

Loki's mouth worked furiously, but nothing came out. Steve sighed, squeezing Loki's wrist and putting his free hand on Loki's shoulder.

"It's fine. I'm kind of upset, but I'll get over it. It'll be good for Jess to have someone familiar around that she's not angry with— though, if you really wanted someone like that you should have grabbed Clint," Steve said, still trying to catch Loki's eye. "They're like best friends these days."

"Steven, I do not…I'm not…" Loki looked frustrated and stomped his foot in a childish manner. Before Steve could work out how wrong that action was, he felt cool lips on his, pressing insistently. It took Steve a fraction of a second to realize Loki was kissing him.

Steve's world kind of stopped spinning.

A man was kissing him.

Well, if Loki was a man. Did Frost Giants have genders? He looked like a man.

Steve had never kissed a guy. But as he felt the tickle of a wet tongue brush his lower lip, he sunk into the sensation. Steve pulled Loki closer, wrapping his arms around Loki's waist while Loki wove his fingers through Steve's hair.

Before the ice, Steve had never really had the chance to explore and examine his feelings. After Peggy had kissed him before he leapt onto the Valkyrie, Steve had wondered what kisses would feel like with the right person and in the right conditions. While he was fond of Peggy, he was under no delusion she was _the_ _one_. She was a female version of Bucky.

(Something he only realized once he'd woken up in the future. He'd realized a lot lately. And lucky for him the future had terms for him and were accepting. Well, more so than where he'd come from.)

Steve wasn't sure if the conditions were optimal, exactly, but kissing Loki felt right and like nothing Steve had been exposed to before. Steve didn't want to ever kiss another person again.

Loki pulled away first, lips a little swollen and a little out of breath. He searched Steve's eyes before saying, "I would not care to do that with Agent Barton."

Steve's head felt cloudy. He blinked slowly, finally finding words.

"No, I'd think not."

* * *

_Make your dreams come true / Don't give up the fight / You will be alright / Because there's no one like you in the universe_

_-Muse, "Invincible"_


End file.
